Crystal Ketchum: A New Generation Begins
by The Mistress of Shadow Dragons
Summary: Join the adventures of Crystal Ketchum, as she meets new friends, makes new rivals, and is constantly pursued by a mysterious Team known as Team Starstorm. *OFFICIALLY DISCONTINUED*
1. Chapter 1: Enter Crystal Ketchum

**Hey, y'all. The Mistress of Shadow Dragons here. Since you guys seemed to have liked my previous story, Goin' Crazy, so much, I've decided to write a sequel to it. And, well...here it is. I just hope that this story is just as good as my other one. (crosses fingers) But, I'm going to hush up now, and let you, the wonderful reviewer, read**

**Disclaimer:I do not, REPEAT, do not, own Pokemon.**

**If I did, do you honestly think I would be sitting here at this computer writing fan fiction? I think not.**

**With that being said, enjoy.**

Chapter 1: Enter Crystal Ketchum

The moon was shining brightly that night, casting a silvery glow over anything it touched. A young girl was sitting on a windowsill, both her shoulder-length jet black hair and lightweight lavender nightgown blowing gently in the breeze, thinking peacefully. The girl loved moonlit nights because, on nights like this, she sometimes wished she could fly away like a Butterfree. The girl's name was Crystal Ketchum, daughter of Ash and Misty Ketchum.

Crystal had inherited her aquamarine blue eyes and a love for Water Pokemon from her mother, and she inherited her stubbornness, appetite, and determination from her father. The reason why Crystal was up so late, was because tomorrow was her 12th birthday, and she was also thinking of another reason why tomorrow was a special day-she would finally be old enough to receive her first Pokemon, and start a journey like all other Trainers.

As her blue eyes continued to gaze up at the ethereal, silver orb, a figure, dressed in an white robe, was standing in the doorway. That figure came to be her mother, Misty Ketchum, wondering why her daughter had not yet gone to sleep.

"Crystal," she softly spoke, quietly walking over to where her daughter was sitting.

Realizing that it was her mother's soft voice that had spoken to her, Crystal quietly said "Oh, Mother. It's you. You startled me," turning her gaze away from the moon into her mother's soft aquamarine blue eyes.

"Crystal, you really should get some sleep," her mother quietly spoke.

"You're right Mother," the raven-haired girl replied, starting to yawn.

So, she nimbly hopped off the windowsill, and walked over to her mother was standing. Suddenly, Crystal just stopped in the middle of the room, staring off into space; as if she was in some sort of trance. When Misty noticed that her daughter wasn't by her side, she turned around, and noticed that Crystal was just standing there in the middle of the room, staring off into space, an blank expression playing itself across her facial features.

When Crystal came back to reality, she was staring into the concerned face of her mother.

"Crystal, are you okay? You seemed to have been staring off into space."

"Hmmm...Oh, I'm fine Mother," the raven-haired girl lied. Then a moment later, with her hung low, she replied "But I am starting to have some doubts."

Then, in a barely audible voice, she quietly spoke "Mother, what if I'm not good enough? What if I don't have what it takes to become an Pokemon Trainer?" Crystal asked sadly; tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

Misty was shocked by what her daughter was just now telling her. So, in a firm, yet, gentle manner, she grabbed Crystal by her shoulders, and replied sternly "Crystal! Listen to me! Don't you dare start having doubts about experiencing first-hand one the greatest journeys that you will ever embark on in your young life! When you become a Pokemon Trainer, you'll make all sorts of new friends that you will hopefully keep close to your heart. And trust me on this. That's exactly how I met your father," the raven-haired girl's mother commented off-topic for a moment; wiping away a tear that was quickly forming in her eye.

"Look, what I'm trying to tell you is that you should never have doubts about becoming a Pokemon Trainer. You just have to believe in yourself."

Now reassured with confidence, Crystal wiped some of the tears away that were forming in her own cerulean blue eyes, and responded "You're right, Mother. I don't know what I was thinking. Gee, you're very insightful. How do you know so much?" she asked curiously.

"Female intution," Misty replied matter-of-factly before she and her daughter had erupted into a fit of quiet giggles.

When the giggle fit had ceased, the red-headed young woman replied softly "Okay, Crystal. I think that's enough staying up for one evening. Come on. It's time for bed," as she grasped her daughter's soft and small hand into her own, and walked her over to her bed, where she was tucked snugly under the covers, given a good-night kiss, and quietly closed the door on her way out, leaving Crystal alone in her room, with a one-way ticket to dreamland...

* * *

_The next morning_

The next morning, all was quiet in Crystal's room, until that is, the digital alarm clock that stood soundly on her bedside table began to ring loudly. And for the third time that morning, Crystal once again pushed the "Snooze" button on the clock, wanting to sleep in a little longer. But, after finally realizing that today was her 12th birthday and also that she was going to get her first Pokemon today, she was in such a rush to get out of bed, that she fell on the wooden floor below, tangled in between her bedsheets.

After 5 minutes of trying to untangle herself from the bedsheets, Crystal neatly made her bed, then grabbed an outfit from her closet, underwear from her underwear door, and headed off for the bathroom to take a shower, brush her teeth, (you know, basic morning stuff). When she finally came out of the bathroom, she was dressed in army cargo pants, a white tank top, a army cargo bandanna to cover her jet-black hair, and white flip-flops.

Just then, the satisfying aroma of bacon sizzling in the frying pan came across Crystal's nostrils. She walked downstairs to the kitchen, where she found her mother making breakfast.

"Good morning, Mother," Crystal said sweetly, sitting down at the kitchen table. Misty brought a plate of bacon and eggs and a glass of orange juice to her daughter, gave her a good morning kiss, and said "Happy 12th Birthday, Crystal."

"Thank you. Is Daddy up yet?"

Misty giggled to herself and said "No. But he should be, knowing the smell of bacon in the air."

And speak of the devil. As soon as the word "bacon" was mentioned, a young man with messy black hair, dressed in a white tank top and blue boxers being worn underneath a emerald green robe just happened to walk into the kitchen, a electric Pokemon perched upon his left shoulder accompanying him. The young man was none other than the former Pokemon Master and Crystal's father, Ash Ketchum.

"Daddy!" Crystal exclaimed, getting up from the table and running into her father's open arms.

"Good Morning, sweetheart," Ash exclaimed, planting a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "And Happy Birthday."

Crystal giggled and said "Thank you."

Pikachu then jumped down from its master's shoulder, and into Crystal's arms, licking her on the face, also wanting to wish her a happy birthday.

"Thank you, Pikachu," she said happily to the Electric rodent.

Shortly thereafter, the family of 3 plus Pikachu, sat down to breakfast, eating quietly. After breakfast, the dishes were cleaned and put away, then Ash asked his daughter "So, Crystal. Are you excited about getting your very first Pokemon today?"

Crystal then looked into her father's chocolate brown eyes and said "I sure am, Daddy. I can't wait."

Then her mother asked "Have you decided on which Pokemon you wanted?"

Crystal then turned her attention from the warm chocolate eyes of her father to the aquamarine eyes of her mother and said "Yes. I've decided that I wanted a Squirtle, the Water-starter."

"Great choice, honey," her mother stated, knowing that her mother was the former Water Pokemon Master...

* * *

_20 minutes later_

Crystal was all packed up and ready to start her journey, having all the necessary items that a beginning trainer would need, like Potions, a First-Aid kit, Pokeballs, etc.

"Well, that's everything," Crystal said excitedly.

"Now remember," her father said sternly, looking into her aquamarine blue eyes, "When you get to Professor Oak's Laboratory, make sure to call us, okay?"

"Don't worry, Daddy. I'll will," Crystal said, before she walked out of the white picket fence that surrounded her blue two-story house, and started on the path towards Professor Oak's Laboratory.

"Well, there she goes, Ash," Misty quietly whispered to her husband.

"Yup. Our little girl has finally become a Pokemon Trainer," Ash said, wrapping his strong arms around his wife's waist, and resting his head on her shoulder.

"I'll know she'll do great," he whispered softly into her ear, before pulling her into a long and passionate kiss.

"Ew, gross!" Crystal exclaimed, a disgusted look present upon her fair face, as she was covering her eyes from the kissing scene in front of her. "Couldn't you guys have waited until I have at least walked down the road?"

"Crystal?!" both of her parents exclaimed in a surprised manner; blushes evident on both of their faces. "What are you doing back so soon?!"

"Heh...I just came back to get a map. That's the only thing that I forgot to bring with me," she said, as she ran a hand behind her head; embarrassed.

After receiving the map, she said "Thanks. I'd better be going," she replied, before she continued back on the road towards her father's hometown of the quiet and peaceful Pallet Town...

_1 hour later_

After about a hour of walking through the Viridian Forest and into Pallet Town, Crystal had at last reached the infamous Oak Research Laboratory. She walked up the thick and sturdy concrete steps and to the front door, where she knocked loudly. A moment later, a young man in his early thirties with green hair and a sketchbook in his hand came to the door.

"Hello, I'm Tracey. You must be Crystal, correct? Come on in. Professor Oak has been expecting you," signaling Crystal to come in.

Tracey then closed the double doors behind Crystal as she walked inside, then led her to the upper level of the laboratory, where the starter Pokemon were being held.

Once upstairs, the raven-haired girl asked curiously "Ummm...Do you know where Professor Oak is? I was hoping that I could meet him."

Tracey turned around to face the raven-haired girl and replied "Yeah, I'll go get him. Be right back," he said before disappearing into another room.

So, while Tracey was gone, Crystal found a nearby Videophone, and notified her parents that she made it to the lab, safe and sound. After getting off the phone with her parents, Tracy brought back with him, a elderly man dressed in a snow white lab coat, complete with red shirt, tan pants, and black shoes on. He was also holding a wooden cane with a firm grip in his right hand.

"Hello, you must be Crystal. I'm Professor Oak. I take it you're here to receive your first Pokemon, am I correct?"

Intimidated by his presence, Crystal nodded silently. The three then walked over to where three Pokeballs were sitting in three seperate glass cases.

"So, tell me Crystal. Have you decided which Pokemon that you would like to start out with?"

Crystal thought about it for a moment, then replied "Well, I've given it a lot of thought, and I've decided to start out with a Squirtle."

"Hmmm...A Squirtle? Good choice," Oak replied happily, before pressing a button that opened up the last glass case.

He then held firmly in his left hand, a small red and white spherical object, before he pressed a button on it that opened it up to its full size, and a flash of bright, white light emitted from the ball. When the the light dissipated, a small baby blue Pokemon with a thick and durable shell on its back appeared.

"Squirtle?" it asked, looking at its surroundings. Upon laying eyes on the Tiny Turtle Pokemon, Crystal automatically fell in love with it.

"Awww...you're so cute," Crystal exclaimed happily, scooping up the Pokemon into her arms, cradling it as if it were her own child.

Oak then walked over to the two, asking Squirtle "So, Squirtle. What do you think? Would you like Crystal to be your new Trainer?"

The Water-type then looked up from Oak, to the girl who was now cradling it gently in her arms, and happily exclaimed "Squirtle!"

Oak then happily said to Crystal "Then, it's decided. Squirtle has chosen you, Crystal, to become its new trainer."

"Oh, Squirtle. Just you wait. We're going to have so much fun on our adventures!" Crystal happily said to her new Pokemon.

Oak then handed Crystal Squirtle's Pokeball and told her to take good care of it.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Professor Oak. Squirtle and I have already become the best of friends."

Crystal then recalled Squirtle inside its Pokeball, and placed it on her belt clip.

After thanking the Professor for giving her the Squirtle, she was standing outside of the gate of the laboratory. Before she left, however, Oak stopped her and replied "Oh, Crystal. I almost forgot to give this to you," as he reached into his coat pocket, and handed her a cherry red rectangular device with a sapphire orb located near the very top.

"What is it?" Crystal asked curiously as she inspected the strange-looking device that was given to her.

"It is called a _Pokedex_, Crystal. And it is specifically designed to analyze the name, height, weight, species type and give a brief description of any of the various species of Pokemon that inhabit our world that you may come across while on your journey It can also be used to register yourself into the Pokemon League located in Indigo Plateau," Professor Oak explained.

As the raven-haired girl held her new _Pokedex_ in her hands, she happily exclaimed "Wow. Thank you, Professor Oak."

"You're welcome, young one," Oak replied back happily.

So, after waving goodbye to Tracey and the Professor, Crystal was on the road once again, resuming her journey with a new friend by her side.

So, that's where our heroine is now. She's currently on her way to Pewter City, to battle the Gym Leader for a Boulder Badge.

**So, what did you think? Like it? Hate it? Feel free to tell me in a review. Well, gotta go. Chapter 2 coming soon. Bye!**

_**Next time:A New Friend**_


	2. Chapter 2: A New Friend

**Hey, all. I am so sooooooo sorry that it took me this long to update. I bet you guys were waiting very patiently for the update of the second chapter, weren't you? Well, guess what? It's finally paid off, for here is (hears drumroll in the background) the second chapter! Yay! (throws confetti) I would also like to thank commentdacat for letting me use their character in my story. So, without further delay, let's get this show on the road.**

**Disclaimer: The disclaimer from Chapter 1, now applies to all future chapters.**

**With that being said, enjoy.**

Chapter 2: A New Friend

When we last left off, our heroine Crystal had just received a Squirtle, a Water-type as her Pokemon partner. And now, the both of them are now entering the entrance into the Viridian Forest, trying to make their way to Pewter City.

It is said that people can easily become lost in the Viridian Forest because it is a natural and perplexing maze by nature. The trees in said forest are so thick, that very little natural sunlight is able to penetrate through the leafy canopies of the treetops. The Viridian Forest is also home to various Bug and Flying-element Pokemon such as Caterpie, Weedle, Pidgey and Pidgeotto.

About ten minutes after coming into the forest, Crystal replied "Phew, I'm tired. I'd better stop and take a break"

So, the raven-haired girl found a nearby rock and sat down on it. A moment later, she heard her stomach starting to growl, and she blushed in embarassment.

"Uh-oh. Looks like it's time for lunch."

So, Crystal set down her backpack, shaped like a Spheal, (her mother's old backpack) and rummaged through it for a moment, before she found a turkey and cheese sandwich wrapped neatly in a plastic bag, a bag of potato chips, and a bottle of fresh spring water..

"Mmmmmmm...yummy. Oh, I almost forgot. This just wouldn't be lunch without Squirtle."

Crystal then threw her Pokeball high into the air, and out came her Tiny Turtle Pokemon, looking like it just had woken up from a nap.

"Squirtle?" it asked sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of its eyes.

"Hi, sweetie. You just woke up, huh? Well, it's lunchtime now. How about I feed you some of my special Pokemon chow?" Crystal replied as she smiled sweetly at it.

"Squirtle!" it said happily.

So, Crystal and Squirtle ate their lunch together in the peace and tranquility of the forest, all the while listening intently to the inhabitants that occupied it. The Pidgey and its evolved form Pidgeotto were gently flapping their wings to fly through the branches of the tall trees, possibly searching for worms that were hiding themselves underground from their natural predators to eat. The timid Caterpie and its poisonous counterpart, Weedle, were crawling around on the soft and lush emerald green grass, chewing on soft leaves that had fallen on the ground from the treetops above.

Said Pokemon's evolved forms, Metapod and Kakuna were perched firmly onto the fronts of the trees, Hardening their cocoons to become ready to evolve into their final stages, Butterfree and Beedrill. It was just the quietness of the forest that just made one feel so calm and at ease. After resting for a little while, and now feeling full of energy, the duo kept walking until they finally reached the end of the Viridian Forest...

* * *

Once out of the forest, Crystal heard the distinct sound of someone engaged in a Pokemon battle . And indeed her instincts were correct, for when she looked straight ahead of her, she saw a boy that had brown hair that was pushed up messily underneath a orange baseball cap that he was wearing backwards on his head.

His violet purple eyes glimmered brightly in the afternoon sunshine, and he seemed to be wearing a yellow shirt under a orange jacket, sky blue jeans with orange and white sneakers. A orange and black backpack was snugly resting on his back.  
He was around her age, and at his side, a small, fox-like Pokemon with a reddish-brown pelt, long, pumpkin orange bangs falling down elegantly over its forehead; said color locks holding them up. It also had a snow white underbelly, and its paws were of a light cocoa powder color. Its olive green eyes were sparkling just as brightly as its Trainer's, and its six distinctive curled up orange tails were battling with what appeared to be a wild Mankey.

Crystal then decided that it was a perfect time to use the new Pokedex that she just recently received from Professor Oak to gather information about this Pokemon.

_Vulpix_

_The Fox Pokemon_

_Type:Fire_

_Height:2'0_

_Weight:22 lbs._

_At birth, this Pokemon only has one snow white tail. As it grows older, however, the snow white tail will split at its tip, forming six more beautiful tails. In the wild, if a Vulpix is attacked by an enemy that is larger and stronger then itself, it will feign injury to fool it and escape to safety. _

And from the looks of the battle, both the Vulpix and the Mankey looked like they only had enough energy for one attack left.

"Vulpix, wait until Mankey gets close, then at the very last second, dodge then use Fire Spin!" the boy commanded.

"Vul (Okay)," the Fox Pokemon replied as she nodded her head. The Fire-type then just waited patiently for her Fighting-element opponent to attack her, and she didn't have to wait very long, because the Mankey was now getting quite irritated that the Fox Pokemon was just standing there, not going to attack it or anything.

Enough was enough. Mankey decided to end the match with one final Low Kick attack. Just as the Pig Monkey Pokemon came within striking distance of Vulpix, she cleverly jumped out of the way just in time, got behind it, and released a whirlpool of flames from her mouth.

The Fighting-type screeched in agony as its small and agile body was now engulfed within the Fire Spin, and when the attack had ceased, it was lying on the ground motionless with swirls in its eyes; indicating that it was unconscious.

"Go, Pokeball!" the boy yelled, as he threw a spare Pokeball at the now unconscious Mankey.

The Pokeball flew with incredible speed towards the Pig Monkey Pokemon, withdrew it into its contents, and fell to the ground, rumbling as it did so, flashing a red light, indicating that it was in the process of being captured. After a minute or two, the Pokeball stopped rumbling. The boy then ran over to where the Pokeball was lying, picked it up, and screamed "Yes! I caught myself a Mankey! Vulpix, you were great out there, buddy!"

"Vulpix (Thanks)," she weakly retorted, before collapsing onto the ground herself, swirls present in her own olive green eyes.

The boy then ran over to his fallen Pokemon and asked her "Vulpix. Are you okay, buddy?"

Crystal, having just witnessed the entire battle, walked up to the boy and said "It'll be fine. It just used up all of its energy in that battle, and with a little rest, it should be good as new."

The boy jumped a little at Crystal's presence, then he asked her "Thanks. Ummm...Do you know where the nearest Pokemon Center is?"

Crystal, with a smile on her face, said "Sure. The nearest Pokemon Center would be located in Pewter City. And you're in luck, because that is where I am heading right now. Why don't you come along with me, and we can get your Vulpix all healed up?"

"Okay," the boy replied, gratefully accepting Crystal's offer.

The raven-haired girl then recalled Squirtle back inside its Pokeball, and the boy scooped his Vulpix into his arms, (the Vulpix hates Pokeballs) and together, the two kids ran off towards the direction of the Pokemon Center in Pewter City...

* * *

Once the two Trainers had made it safely into Pewter City and into its local Pokemon Center around ten minutes later, the boy rushed into the main lobby and up to the front desk, Crystal following quietly behind him, where he started to ring the bell.

A moment later, a nurse wearing a white hat and a red cross embedded on it on her head came up to the desk, a Chansey accompanying her.

"Hello. How may I help you today?" the nurse asked nicely.

"Nurse Joy, can you please look after my Vulpix and Mankey for me?" the boy asked, clearly out of breath.

Nurse Joy looked at the boy and said "Sure. Just leave your Pokeball on the tray here, and your Vulpix on the stretcher here, and you'll get them back first thing tomorrow morning."

So, the boy did as he was told, and left his Pokeball on the tray, then walked over to where the Chansey wheeled out a hospital stretcher for the Fire-type to be placed upon, so she could be pushed back into the recovery room.

When he was finished, he walked over to where Crystal was sitting, and sat down next to her. Being the curious person that she was, she asked the boy "Hi. I never asked for your name, did I...ummm?"

The boy looked at Crystal and replied "Don't worry about it. Hi, my name is Tobias Nonaka. What's yours?"

Crystal retorted politely " Hi, Tobias. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Crystal Ketchum."

The boy started wide-eyed at Crystal, then asked "You're Crystal Ketchum! Daughter of current Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum?!"

"The one and only," the raven-haired girl bragged.

"Wow! I'd never thought I'd have the honor of meeting Ash Ketchum's daughter!"

"Gee...thanks. I guess," Crystal replied, not knowing whether to be happy or disturbed.

"So, are you as good as your dad?" Tobias asked curiously.

"No, not yet. I'm just a beginning trainer that's trying to earn the 8 badges of Kanto like my father did when he embarked on a journey at my age," Crystal replied.

"Wow. That's cool. Like yourself, I, too am a beginning trainer, but I am going to acquire all of the badges, not just from here in Kanto, but also in the Johto and Hoenn regions," Tobias answered.

This had caught Crystal's attention. She then replied "Me too. When I get some stronger Pokemon, I'm going to journey to the Johto and Hoenn regions and acquire their badges too."

Crystal then asked the auburn-haired boy "So, Tobias. Just out of curiosity, why did you capture that Mankey earlier?"

Tobias then replied simply "I needed a Fighting-type so that I could take on the Pewter City Gym Leader."

Crystal then looked at him and said "Well, it seems that you are going to have to wait your turn, because I plan to challege the Pewter City Gym Leader myself first."

Tobias then replied " Well, it seems that I have a new rival, and a new friend."

Crystal than replied " It would seem so, Tobias. It would seem so."

So, over the few hours that they barely known each other, Crystal and Tobias became really fast friends, swapping stories about their lives, talking about what their favorite type of Pokemon was, and so on. And before either of them knew it, it was already sunset!

Crystal then noticed the time on the clock and exclaimed "Oh, my gosh! Tobias! I guess we've been talking for so long that it is already 7:00 p.m in the evening!"

"Wow. You're right, Crystal. Wanna head over to the cafeteria for dinner?"

"Sure," the raven-haired girl replied nicely.

So, the two Trainers headed to the cafeteria, and ate a early dinner, then afterwards, they came back to the main lobby, requested two seperate room keys, went upstairs, headed into their seperate rooms, and retired for the evening...

* * *

Bright and early the next morning, Crystal woke up, took a shower, got dressed, and walked out of her room; locking it with her room key.

"Hmmm...I wonder what time it is?" Crystal wondered to herself.

She looked at her watch, and it read 9:00 a.m.

"Wow. Time sure does fly. doesn't it? Well, I'd better go wake Tobias up"

Crystal then walked down the hallway, turned a sharp corner, and stopped at the very last room at the end of the hallway. She knocked on the door softly.

"Tobias, it's time to get up."

No response came from the other side. Crystal then knocked on the door a little harder and louder this time.

"Tobias, I said get your lazy butt up and let's go!" the raven-haired girl replied now a little irritated.

A minute had passed, before she heard the doorknob unlocking itself. Tobias then answered the door, still looking tired, and a little irritated himself.

"Crystal, what do you want?" the auburn-haired boy asked somewhat rudely.

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Get ready. You know that I want to battle the Pewter Gym Leader today," Crystall said excitedly.

"Oh, right. That," Tobias said somewhat absentmindly. "Well, can't it wait until tomorrow or something?"

Crystal then looked at Tobias angrily for even suggesting that she miss out on possibly, what could be, the biggest event of her young life. Why, the nerve of him!

_"No way! There's no way in heck that's gonna happen,"_ Crystal thought to herself.

"No, it can not wait. You know how much this means to me. Now get ready. I'll be waiting downstairs in the lobby," Crystal replied; irritation clearly etched upon her facial features.

"All right, All right," Tobias grumbled under his breath.

He then closed his door, and Crystal went downstairs to the lobby to wait for him...

* * *

Ten minutes had passed before Tobias had finally come downstairs to the main lobby, dressed, and ready to receive his Pokemon. By that time, Crystal had already blew off the steam she directed towards him earlier, and they walked up to the front desk. Tobias rang the bell, and Nurse Joy walked up to the desk a moment later.

"Oh, hello Tobias. Your Pokemon are all rested up, and ready to battle," Nurse Joy told Tobias happily.

Just as he received his Mankey's Pokeball and placed it on his belt clip, a familiar cry that sounded a lot like "Vul!" rang out loudly. Tobias then turned towards the general direction of his Vulpix, which was so excited to see her Trainer, that she jumped into his open arms.

"Hey, Vulpix. How you doing today, buddy?" the auburn-haired boy asked.

"Vulpix" (I'm ready to battle!) she responded positively

"That's good to hear," Tobias told his Pokemon happily. "Thanks, Nurse Joy," the auburn-haired boy replied with gratitude a moment later.

As they were walking away, Crystal shyly asked "Ummm...Tobias?"

"What is it, Crystal?" Tobias replied as he stopped and looked at her with concern.

Crystal blushed, then pressed forward with her question.

"Ummm...Tobias. Is it okay...if I can pet your Vulpix?"

"Sure," Tobias answered kindly.

He then held out his his Fox Pokemon for Crystal to pet.

"Vul "(Wow, that feels nice)," the Fire-type purred, as she felt the raven-haired girl softly caress her smooth and silky orangish-red fur.

"Wow, Tobias. Your Vulpix's fur is so soft."

"Yeah. I make sure to brush her fur 100 times every night before going to bed."

The auburn-haired boy then replied a moment later "Wow. I'm hungry. Hey, Crystal. Wanna go to the cafeteria and grab a quick bite to eat before your upcoming Gym battle?"

"Yeah. I don't want to battle on a empty stomach," Crystal admitted with a light tinge of pink painted across her fair face.

So, as they were heading towards the cafeteria, Tobias suddenly stopped, and said "Crystal, I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Tobias?" Crystal replied with kindness.

With a light tinge of red painted across his cheeks, so as mimicking Crystal's earlier behavior he replied "I just wanted to say... that I'm sorry for what I've said to you earlier. I obviously didn't know what I was talking about because I was still cranky, and it was wrong of me to have said something like that. So, do you forgive me?"

Crystal then looked into Tobias's sad, violet purple eyes, and responded "Of course I forgive you, silly. I mean, I'm still a little ticked that you would even suggest a thing like that. But, hey. It was still early. So, I totally understand where you're coming from with this."

Crystal then proceeded to whisper into Tobias's ear "To tell you the truth, I'm not really a morning person myself."

They then laughed over her comment, shook hands, and forgot that this whole thing ever happened.

When they finally stopped by the cafeteria, they had a plate full of bacon, eggs, and a tall stack of blueberry pancakes; complete with butter and syrup and some orange juice. When they were finshed with their breakfast, they headed out on their way to the Pewter City Gym...

* * *

Pewter City Gym-10 minutes later

The Pewter City Gym was stone grey in apperance, with various Rock/Ground-element Pokemon adorning the rooftop of the building; coal black lettering that clearly read "Pewter Gym". Thick, concrete steps led to the inside of the Gym; the heavy-looking double doors standing wide open. The building itself didn't look that big from the outside, but it was much larger on the inside.

"Well, Crystal. You ready to face the gym leader and earn your first Kanto gym badge?" Tobias asked her.

"I sure am, Tobias," the raven-haired girl replied with confidence.

The two Trainers then walked towards the double doors of the building.

Crystal was happy for two reasons. 1-She was eager to earn her first Kanto gym badge-The Boulder Badge. And 2-She had a new traveling companion that would cheer her on to victory.

* * *

**Well, there you have it, folks. Chapter 2. Now, if all of you are good little boys and girls, I might just update, with Chapter 3 as a present! But, you have to be on your very best behavior! (Geez. I'm talking to you guys like it's still Christmastime, and it's almost the end of March.)**

Next time:Battle for the Boulder Badge


	3. Chapter 3: Battle for the Boulder Badge

**Sup, dudes? I'm back. Did you miss me? (gets glares) Awww...come on. it wasn't that bad. After suffering for three months with the pain in the ass only known as writer's block, I decide to be nice, and finally come out with a new chapter, and this is how you repay me? Okay, watch. When I decide to update with a new chapter, don't say that I never did anything for you people. (gets even more glares) Okay! Okay! (sweatdrops) I'm going to be quiet, and let you read now. Sheesh.**

Chapter 3: Battle for the Boulder Badge

When last we left off, our heroine Crystal had made it into Pewter City, where she meets a boy around her age named Tobias Nonaka, who, from what she was told, hailed from the city of Celadon, and his greatest desire is to become the greatest Pokemon Breeder there ever was. Now that he and Crystal are friends, he has offered to come along with her as her traveling companion on her journey.

And that's where they are today. They were standing just outside the entrance that led inside to the Pewter City Gym, eagerly anticipating their upcoming gym battle with the Gym Leader.

"Well, Crystal, ready to go inside?" Tobias asked nervously.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Crystal said bravely.

So, the two friends quickly walked up the concrete steps, and through the double doors of the building. As they were walking down the long and brightly lit hallways, they noticed that the the thick, concrete walls that were to either side of them felt as though that they were starting to close in on them.

A moment later, they seemed to have came across a room with a huge gym arena, with a massive snow white Pokeball painted in the middle, with lines on either side of it to divide the battlefield. On both ends of the battlefield, were two rectangular boxes, one for the Gym Leader, the other for the challenger. Finally, scattering all around the the arena, were various sizes of stalagmites.

"Who goes there?" a gruff voice boomed through the shadows.

"Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City and Tobias Nonaka of Celadon City come to challenge the Pewter Gym Leader for a Boulder Badge!" Crystal replied back loudly.

"Is that right?" the gruff voice asked again, before jumping out of the shadows to reveal himself. Once out into the light, the figure revealed himself to be Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.

Brock was a tall man. He had spiky brown hair and tan skin. He was wearing a white shirt, brown pants, and gray shoes. Where his eyes should be, in their place, were two slits, giving the impression that he is blind. He then notices that Crystal has one Pokeball, while Tobias has two.

"Alright, I accept your challenge. On one condition: you and your friend must face me in a tag-team battle, using one Pokemon only."

After that speech, Crystal was really hyped up to battle.

"Okay. We accept. Tobias, you up for the challenge?" the raven-haired girl asked her friend eagerly.

"Of course! I'm ready to battle!" Tobias replied with the same eagerness.

The two Trainers and the Gym Leader then proceeded over to either end of the battlefield.

The referee, who was fair-skinned as Crystal, was wearing black shorts, a black and white striped shirt, and holding two green flags in her hands. She looked at the combatants, and replied, "This tag-team battle between Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City and Tobias Nonaka of Celadon City, against Brock, of the Pewter City Gym, is about to commense. The match is will be decided when both opponent's Pokemon are unable to battle. Are the combatants ready?"

Both the challengers and the Gym Leader nodded their heads to confirm that they were.

"Ready?" the referee held up both green flags. "And...BEGIN!" the referee waved down both green flags.

"Go Squirtle!" Crystal cried, throwing her Pokeball high into the air.

"You too, Vulpix!" Tobias replied, mimicking Crystal. A moment later, the Fire-type was right beside Squirtle, ready for battle.

"Hmmm...Go Golem! You too, Onix!" Brock replied, releasing two Pokemon onto the battlefield; one looking like a giant boulder with two arms and feet, and the other, a snake that looked like it was made completely out of rock!

Again it was a time that Crystal deemed perfect for retrieving her Pokedex to scan and gather information about the two Pokemon that were standing in front of her at this very moment.

_Golem_

_The Megaton Pokemon_

_Type:Rock/Ground_

_Height:4'7_

_Weight:622 lbs._

_This Pokemon lives high up in the mountains, and its massive size and great strength make it quite difficult to capture. Golem will shed their bedrock shell once a year, and as it grows larger, the newly grown shell is so tough and durable, that not even the strongest dynamite blasts can harm it._

_Onix_

_The Rock Snake Pokemon_

_Type:Rock/Ground_

_Height:28'10_

_Weight:463 lbs._

_At over twenty-eight feet in length, this is the longest Pokemon in existence! The stone portions of its body turn as black as coal and as hard as diamonds, and when it grows older, the stones will become increasingly rounder and smoother. Onix is also capable of tunneling underground in search of food at over fifty miles per hour._

"Golem, use Earthquake, and Onix, use Sandstorm!" Brock commanded his two Rock/Ground element Pokemon.

As Onix quickly got to work and whipped a massive Sandstorm, Golem used its entire momentum to jump a few inches off of the ground, and when it landed, massive tremors were felt throughout the entire arena, as Vulpix and Squirtle tried their very hardest to keep their balance, but it proved pointless, and they both toppled down to the ground. A moment later, both the Fire and Water-types were caught in the Sandstorm; their vision impaired greatly.

"Onix, use Bind on Vulpix!" Brock commanded his Rock Snake Pokemon.

Since the Fox Pokemon was still blinded by the effects of the Sandstorm, she didn't notice a large and powerful tail wrap itself around her small and fragile body.

"Vul!" she cried as she griited her sharp teeth in pain; unable to escape from the crushing Bind.

"Vulpix, no!" Tobias yelled, hating to see his Pokemon in pain.

"Don't worry Tobias. I'll get Vulpix out. Squirtle, use Bubble on Onix," Crystal commanded her Tiny Turtle Pokemon.

As soon as the Tiny Turtle Pokemon shakily got back on its feet, it automatically released a stream of bubbles from its mouth. Brock then realized what Crystal was trying to do.

"If you think you're going to win that easily, then you're gravely mistaken. Golem, use Rollout to protect Onix!" Brock commanded his Megaton Pokemon.

"Golem!" it responded, as it rolled into a huge ball in front of Onix, to stop the Bubbles from harming it.

_"Darn, almost had it,"_ Crystal cursed inside her mind. _"There has to be a way to stop that Rollout attack."_ the raven-haired girl then looked at her surroundings, and although it was difficult to see due to the raging Sandstorm, she could just barely make out the figures of the staglagmites. _"That's it!"_ Crystal said to herself as she came up with an idea. "Squirtle, use Withdraw, then start spinning your shell in between those staglagmites."

"Squirtle (Okay)," it responded, nodding its head.

It then withdrew its entire body inside its shell, then like a top, it was spinning in between the staglagmites, as if it was a pinball machine.

"Ha, if you think that your Squirtle can break through my Golem's Rollout attack, then you're mistaken," Brock teased Crystal.

A moment later, something collided with the Megaton Pokemon's Rollout attack. It was Squirtle's rapidly spinning shell. Although smaller and more lightweight then Golem, it tried its hardest to stop the Rock/Ground element Pokemon from using its Rollout attack, but alas, it just wasn't enough, and the Water-type was sent flying into the air.

"Squirtle, no!" Crystal cried as her Tiny Turtle Pokemon landed on its stomach with its head, arms, legs and tail exposed.

"Heh...No one has ever broken through my Golem's Rollout attack, and I don't expect you to become the first," Brock taunted Crystal.

"_Well, I'll just have to change that, now won't I?" _the raven-haired girl thought to herself.

Crystal then observed Golem as it stopped rolling in front of Onix for only a moment.

"_Hmmm...that might actually work," _Crystal said to herself. "Squirtle, use Withdraw again!"

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon then repeated the process of Withdrawing its entire body its small, tough, and durable shell.

"Oh, come now. Think of something new to use, because you are starting to become quite predictable. As long as you keep trying to attack my Onix head-on, my Golem will always stop you," Brock commented a little irritated now.

Then, there was still the problem of trying to release Vulpix from Onix's crushing grasp.

"_Hmmm...I think I might have an idea_," the raven-haired girl thought to herself. "Squirtle, use Bubble on Golem!"

"Yeah. Like that's going to work. Golem, use Rollout again!" Brock instructed.

The Megaton Pokemon once again began rolling its entire body into a giant ball, just as the Bubbles were approaching it. When the Bubbles were pushing against Golem's body, "Crystal commanded 'Squirtle, jump onto Golem!"

The Water-type did as it was instructed, and reemerged from within its shell to jump onto the massive rolling boulder that was Golem; all the while trying to keep its balance leveled, and not trying to fall off.

"Quick, Squirtle! Now's your chance! Use Bubblebeam on Onix!" Crystal commanded.

By the time that Brock had instructed Onix to move out of Squirtle's line of fire, it was already too late. A rapid flurry of oncoming Bubbles were fastly approaching the Rock Snake Pokemon, which was so preoccupied with keeping its strong grip on Vulpix, it didn't notice the stream of bubbles quckly coming towards it, until it was too late.

Rrrroooar!" it roared in pain, as the Bubbles were striking its exposed tough, rocklike skin. Onix then could no longer hold its grip on Vulpix, and was forced to let her go.

"Squirtle," (Are you okay?) it asked the Fox Pokemon, once she safely touched solid earth again.

"Vul," (I am now, thanks to you), she replied back gratefully.

Around this time, Golem had stopped rolling as soon as it heard the agonizing cry of its partner, and it wanted to see what the problem was. Big mistake.

"Squirtle, use Bubblebeam on Golem before it retreats back into its Rollout form!" Crystal instructed.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon quickly turned around and attacked the Rock/Ground Pokemon with the same attack it just had attacked its partner with-a rapid flurry of oncoming Bubbles streaming from out of its mouth.

"Golem!" it cried, as it fell onto its back; its tough, bedrock shell being rained upon without mercy by the flurry of bubbles, and it was now lying on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Golem is unable to battle," the referee called. "Squirtle wins!"

"All right, Squirtle! You did it!" Crystal cried happily to her Water Pokemon.

"Squirtle! (Thanks!)" it replied back happily.

Brock then looked at his unconscious Pokemon lying on the ground, and growled angrily as he recalled it back inside its Pokeball.

The user of Rock Pokemon then looked angrily towards the two Trainers and their Pokemon.

"Grrr...Onix use Sandstorm!" Brock growled at his Pokemon.

The Rock Snake Pokemon roared, as it kicked up an ever larger Sandstorm than the one it had used previously!

"_Oh no!_" both the Trainers and their Pokemon thought at the same time.

And once again, both Squirtle and Vulpix were caught in the blinding Sandstorm. Brock then commanded his Rock Snake Pokemon to use Tackle on the still vision-impaired Pokemon.

Onix used all of its weight in its full force Tackle, causing both the Fire and Water types to go flying through the air, and hit a couple of staglagmites on the way back down. After a hit like that, the two Pokemon weakly struggled to get back up on their feet. But as soon as they did, Onix Tackled them again, causing them both to crash into even more staglagmites.

The two Trainers then realized, that if both their Pokemon got hit like that again, the match would be over.

Just then, an idea popped into Crystal's head.

"Squirtle, Withdraw your body back inside your shell just like when you did with Golem, then balance yourself on Vulpix's nose!" Crystal replied.

Squirtle did as it was told, and it weakly Withdrew its body back into its shell, then, using what energy she had left, Vulpix picked it up and started balancing it on her nose.

"All right. Now Squirtle, start spinning," Crystal replied.

Squirtle did as it was told again, and it started to spin on Vulpix's nose, much like a basketball. The Fox Pokemon then stood weakly on her hind legs. They then heard the dull roar of Onix approaching!

Just as Onix was getting closer and closer, Tobias commanded, "Vulpix, jump into the air, then launch Squirtle with your tails!"

"Vul," The Fire-type nodded.

Vulpix then used the last bit of energy tht she had to jump on all fours into the air, with Squirtle still spinning on her nose, threw the Water-type up into the air, and like a baseball bat, launched Squirtle's spinning shell with her tails, just as Onix Tackled her in the stomach, causing her to crash into another staglagmite.

"Vul," the Fox Pokemon cried out, as her body collided with yet another staglagmite.

The impact of that last staglagmite was too much for Vulpix, and she was now lying on the ground; swirls present in her olive green eyes.

"Vulpix is unable to battle," the referee cried. "Onix wins!"

"Vulpix!" Tobias yelled, running up to his now fainted Pokemon.

"Are you okay, buddy? Speak to me."

"Vul" (I'm fine, Tobias. I'm just really tired)," she weakly responded.

"You did a great job. You deserve a nice, long rest," Tobias cooed to his Pokemon as he carried her back to where Crystal was still battling.

Brock knew that Crystal was trying to use another Bubble attack, so to prevent that from happening, he had Onix use Bind. But unbeknowst to Brock, Crystal had actually planned this trap the whole entire time.

Just as Brock thought he had claimed sweet victory, Crystal, with a smug smile on her face, screamed, "Squirtle, use Water Gun!" (Squirtle learned that move earlier during the battle).

Looking horror-stricken, Onix tried to quickly release its grip on Squirtle, but it wasn't quick enough. The Tiny Turtle Pokemon inhaled what little air it had left, due to the crushing effect of the Bind, and it released a powerful blast of water from its mouth.

"Rrrroooar!" it roared in agony, as the powerul blast of water was striking its rock hard skin.

Just before Onix hit the ground, Squirtle held on to the thing (what is it called?) on its head. The Rock Snake Pokemon was now lying on the ground motionless with swirls in its eyes; the Water-type still holding on with all its strength on its head.

"Onix is unable to battle. Squirtle wins, and the victory goes to Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City, and Tobias Nonaka of Celadon City!" the referree declared.

"We did it!" Crystal exclaimed happily, as she hugged her Tiny Turtle Pokemon, who had just jumped off of Onix's head and into its Trainer's open arms and then Tobias.

"You were great, Squirtle," Crystal happily praised her Pokemon.

"Squirtle! (Thanks!)" it replied back happily.

Brock, at first, looked upset that he lost, but then, he looked glad.

He came up to the raven-haired girl and replied, "Crystal, that was an amazing battle you've just displayed. I've hadn't had a battle like that in a long time. Not many people know how to break through my Golems's Rollout attack. Well, as promised, you both deserve these," Brock replied, as he handed both Crystal and Tobias their first Kanto gym badge:The Boulder Badge.

"Awesome!" they both replied at the same time, as they high-fived each other. "We earned a Boulder Badge!" holding out their new badges for the whole world to see...

* * *

So, after a day of intense battling, Crystal and Tobias decided to celebrate by eating at a cheap little restaurant that was located in the heart of Pewter City. Afterwards, they went back to the Pokemon Center to get some well deserved sleep. But in the morning, they have to hit the road again, because there are so many more cities and gym battles to explore.

Next stop on their way to Cerulean City:Mt. Moon.

* * *

**So, what did you think? I don't think that this chapter was as good as the other two, but that's just my opinion. If my brain is actually working later, (lol), I'll try to update with the next chapter as soon as I can. Well, gotta go. Bye!**

_**Next time:Trouble at Mt. Moon!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Trouble at Mt Moon

**(gets on stage and speaks into microphone) Well, hello all. Good lord! This may have been one of the longest chapters I've ever written! But, after writing for what seems like a thousand decades (lol), the new chapter is finally here. This chapter is chalk full of Pokemon battles (Personally, I think I suck at describing Pokemon battles), so, you may want to grab a snack, or something, because this is going to be quite a long read. (drops microphone, and runs off stage, before angry readers chuck rotten tomatoes at her!)**

Chapter 4: Trouble at Mt. Moon

When last we left off, Crystal and Tobias were just coming out from their very intense gym battle with the Pewter City Gym Leader, Brock, the user of Rock Pokemon at the Pewter City Gym. After much battling , determination and preserverance, the two Trainers finally won their first Kanto Gym Badge from him-The Boulder Badge.

It was a beautiful afternoon today. The sun was shining brightly, there wasn't a single snow white cloud in the robin egg blue sky, and Crystal and Tobias were walking on the main road that travels from Pewter City to Cerulean City.

"Wow, I still can't believe that we both earned our first Gym Badge," Crystal said astonished, as she admired her new Boulder Badge, as it gleamed and sparkled in the bright sunlight.

"I know what you mean," Tobias replied, also admiring his first Kanto gym badge, and praising his Vulpix, who was at the moment, riding on her trainer's left shoulder. (Hmmm...sound familiar?)

A moment later, the two friends heard a loud, grumbling noise. Crystal looked down at her stomach, and blushed.

"Uh-oh. That noise can only mean one thing. It's time to have lunch."

And just in time too, because something tall and shady suddenly caught Crystal's attention.

"Hey, look," Crystal pointed, with her index finger, towards a big willow tree with lots of shade beneath the tree's branches, and covering all around the very thick trunk of the plant.

"Hey, Tobias. Would you mind if we had lunch under the shady area of that massive willow tree?" Crystal complied.

"No, I wouldn't mind. It's perfectly fine with me," Tobias agreed.

The two friends then walked off the main road, and towards the willow tree. Once there, Tobias took out a red-and-white checkerboard patterned blanket from out of his backpack, and set it right in front of the trunk of the tree.

"Our Pokemon must be starving," Crystal replied.

"Let's feed them," Tobias finished her sentence.

Once settled, the two Trainers released both Squirtle and Mankey from their imprisonment-their Pokeballs.

Once Tobias emptied three cans of Pokemon chow into three separate food dishes, the three Pokemon started to greedily chow down upon their lunch, looking as if they hadn't eaten in days. Crystal and Tobias both quietly giggled to themselves. Crystal then handed Tobias a sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and a juice pouch.

(The mouth of Crystal's Spheal backpack can be used for storing food and sleepwear, as well as important items, such as Potions, an Escape Rope, used only for emergencies only, and so on. Quite useful, if I do say so myself) Crystal and Tobias then enjoyed their lunch under the shade of the huge willow tree.

After lunch, Tobias packed up the red-and-white checkered blanket into his backpack, while Crystal packed the three food dishes into hers. And when they finished, they were once again walking along the main road, with Tobias now looking at the map that Crystal carried along with her.

"So, Tobias," Crystal asked curiously. "Where are we heading to now?"

Tobias once again looked at the map, and responded "Well, according to the map, before we actually make it into Cerulean City, we have to make a little detour first."

"Really?" Crystal asked.

"Yes. It's a location only known to travelers passing through this way as Mt. Moon."

Do you know anything about this Mt. Moon?" Crystal asked quizzically.

"Well, if I can remember from what my mom told me back in Celadon, Mt. Moon is supposed to be home to a rare Pokemon called Clefairy. I believe that I was also told that every Monday night, just after the sun goes down, the Clefairy will come out to dance and pray around something that is called the Moon Stone."

"Moon Stone? What exactly is that?" Crystal asked.

"Well, a really long time ago, a very large meteor from outer space came crashing down to our Earth in a large, deserted cave. The cave apparently became later known as the Mt. Moon that we know it as today. It is also said that the shards of the meteorites that fall down there eventually become Moon Stones."

"Oh. Wow, that's really cool. I would like to see Mt. Moon for myself."

At this comment, Tobias smiled and said "Don't worry, Crystal. I'm also excited about seeing Mt. Moon. Oh, and we're in luck, because right from where we are now, it's about another 10-15 minutes walking distance from here," he stated, as he pointed his index finger towards a picture of a mountain location on the map.

"Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's go!" said Crystal excitedly, as she ran off towards their next destination, her friend shouting "Wait up," as he ran off behind her to catch up...

* * *

_15 minutes later..._

Our heroes had finally made it to Mt. Moon, and they were now standing just outside the entrance. Once they walked inside the deep, dank cave, the only sunlight available was pouring in through a huge opening in the roof. And they weren't alone, for Crystal and Tobias noticed that they were also sharing the cave with a huge group of people, all looking for something embedded deeply in the walls of the cave. They then quickly hid behind two seperate rocks, so they wouldn't be noticed.

"Hey, Tobias," Crystal whispered to her friend, who was hiding behind the rock just a few feet away from her with Vulpix.

"Yeah?" Tobias quietly whispered back.

"Who do you think those people are?" Crystal once again whispered.

"Hold on. I'll check," Tobias whispered back, as he peered over the rock he was hiding behind, but not so much, that he would've been caught.

From the looks of it, the clothing that the people wore, consisted of a light blue bandana on their head, the color of the sky, with a white skull imprinted upon it. Their shirts were of a light blue color, also the color of the sky. The shirts also had a huge, white skull imprinted upon it. Their pants were white, and their shoes matched the color of their shirts. They were only known by one name-Team Aqua.

Once Tobias got back into his hiding position, Crystal asked impatiently "Well?"

"Well, judging by their clothing, I would say that they are only known by one name-Team Aqua," Tobias whispered back to Crystal, a grim look playing across his facial features.

"Team Aqua, huh? You've heard of them?" Crystal asked curiously.

"I've only heard of them through the news back in Celadon," Tobias answered back.

"Do you know anything about this 'Team Aqua'?" Crystal asked quizically.

"I know very little about them, except that they're a evil gang of thieves, who use Water-type Pokemon to do their dirty work for them. They also use their Pokemon to try and help them find ancient artifacts of rare or extinct Pokemon, so that they can sell them to either make money, or to gain power," Tobias concluded.

"That's horrible!," Crystal replied, a mix of shock, disgust, and anger, all present on her fair face. "We have to stop them!"

"Crystal, Sssssssssssh!" Tobias whispered, putting a finger to his lips. "You almost blew our cover with that outburst! Don't worry. We will stop them. As soon as we figure out what they're looking for in this cave."

"I'm on it, chief," Crystal saluted in mock army troop tone.

This time, it was the raven-haired girl who peered from behind her rock to see what the evil gang was up to. Embedded in the walls of the cave, were fossils of prehistoric Pokemon, which has long since been extinct for tens of thousands of years.

Once Crystal sat back down, Tobias asked "Well, did you find anything out?"

"Apparently, they're trying to extract fossils embedded in the walls of the cave. I couldn't make out the Pokemon on the fossils, but I bet that my trusty Pokedex will."

She then pulled out her cherry red Pokedex from out of her pants pocket.

"No, Crystal! Don't!" Tobias warned, but it was too late.

The Pokedex came to life, and it displayed a picture of a small Pokemon with sky blue tentacles, large, black saucer-like eyes, and it had a spiral shaped shell on its back.

Then it read:

_Omanyte_

_The Spiral Pokemon_

_Type:Rock/Water_

_Height:1'4_

_Weight:17 lbs._

_This prehistoric Pokemon has long been extinct for ten of thousands of years. But, with the aid of a Helix Fossil, it can be fully revived by scientists. Omanyte can sink or swim in the water by releasing air stored in its spiral-shaped shell, and if it is attacked by predators, it will retreat into its spiral-shaped shell._

The next entry in the Pokedex displayed a Pokemon with a tan shell protecting its soft and vunerable body from predators, two, small black and beady dots that acted as a second pair of eyes located near the very top of its shell; two blood red eyes were resting underneath its tan shell, which was mostly covered in black. The Pokemon also sported four sharp yellowish-tan legs.

_Kabuto_

_The Shellfish Pokemon_

_Type:Rock/Water_

_Height:1'8_

_Weight:25 lbs._

_Thought to have inhabited beaches around three-hundred million years ago, this Pokemon is said to have been resurrected from the fossil of an ancient creature that hid on the bottom of the ocean floor. However, in extremely rare cases, living examples of Kabuto have been discovered, and it is also said that this Pokemon supposedly stores oils in its hardened shell that are able to grant the power of immortality._

_The final entry in the Pokemon displayed a large and very ferocious looking Pokemon that was stone grey in apperance, its massive wings sporting purple skin that was very thin, and it stretched from its side to its arms, a long tail that sported a triangular tip at the end, and sharp and serrated sawblade-like teeth._

_Aerodactyl_

_The Fossil Pokemon_

_Type:Rock/Flying_

_Height:5'11_

_Weight:130 lbs._

_Resurrected from DNA taken from petrified amber, this vicious Pokemon is said to have roamed the skies freely and fearlessly during the age of the dinosaurs. Savage in nature, Aerodactyl's preferred method of killing its victims is to clamp its powerful maw filled with sharp and serrated sawblade-like teeth down onto the victim's windpipe; therefore tearing a large slit-like cut into it._

"Hey, what was that?" one Team Aqua agent named Marcus asked.

"I don't know, but let's go find out," another Team Aqua agent named Josh said.

By the time she realized it, Crystal had already made the biggest mistake of her life:giving their position away to the enemy.

"Ah-ha. I thought I smelled a couple of Rattata lurking about," the first Team Aqua agent said...

* * *

Once dragged out to the middle of the cave, and bound and gagged with rope, Crystal replied stupidly "Hmmm...using my Pokedex to get information on Omanyte, and it actually turned out to have given away our position to the enemy. Probably not one of my brightest ideas?"

Tobias then replied sarcastically "Gee, ya think?"

After that comment, Crystal growled "Whatever you evil fiends are up to, we will stop you!"

"I don't think you're in any position to be making threats, little girl," Josh replied, ruffling Crystal's bandana. "So, relax. Get comfortable. Because you two are going to be staying for a while," the evil Team Aqua member replied, laughing evily.

A low growl then emitted from both Crystal's and Tobias's throats.

Shortly thereafter, Vulpix was taken away from Tobias, and was now being held fast by the second Team Aqua member.

It was a good thing that the agent didn't have a tight hold on her.

She squirmed out of his grasp, and when she did, she jumped up, and slapped Josh in the face with her tails. She then ran over to where her Trainer and Crystal were binded together by tight rope, and now, she was standing in front of the Team Aqua agent, defending them both by growling angrily.

Josh just shrugged off the slap to his face by the arrogant Vulpix not too long ago, and he replied calmly "Oh, look. The little Vulpix thinks it can rescue the two of you," he mocked the Fox Pokemon.

Just as the first agent, Marcus was reaching out for Crystal and Tobias, Vulpix jumped up, and bit him on the arm.

"Ouch! Why you little--!" Marcus snarled angrily at the Fire-type, as he retracted his arm, and now, there were little teeth marks visible on it.

"Oh, so you wanna bite, huh?" Marcus growled at Vulpix. "Okay, then. I'll bite right back. Go Kingler!" Marcus replied, holding a Pokeball in his right hand.

A moment later, a giant cherry red crab Pokemon appeared; one of its pincers clearly larger than the other.

"Kingler, use Crabhammer!" Marcus commanded his Pincer Crab Pokemon.

From the get-go, Vulpix was naturally at a disadvantage, because she was a Fire-type, and Kingler was a Water-type. But she would find a way to defeat her opponent.

Kingler's larger pincer started to glow with a bright, white light, and it was a good thing that Tobias's mouth wasn't stuffed with cloth. Because he otherwise couldn't have commanded his Fox Pokemon to use Dig at the last possible moment.

As the Water-element swung with its massive pincer, the impact of the Crabhammer had made a small crater on the hole that Vulpix had just dug up!

Kingler was now confused, looking around, as to where the Fox Pokemon would strike next.

Suddenly, a hole opened up from underneath Kingler, and it was struck with a powerful Tackle. The Pincer Crab Pokemon was now lying on its back.

"Oh, come on, you pathetic excuse for a Pokemon!" Marcus yelled. "Get back up!"

As Kingler obeyed its master, and struggled to get back up, Tobias was suddenly hit with a stroke of genius.

"Vulpix, use Fire Spin to trap Kingler!" commanded Tobias.

The Fire-type obeyed, and she released a massive whirlpool of flames from out of her mouth towards Kingler.

By the time Kingler got back up on its feet, it was already too late. It was hit by the Fire Spin, and it was now completely immobilized; due to the fact that the Fire-type move prevented a enemy from moving.

"Oh, no! Kingler!" Marcus shouted in horror, towards his Pincer Crab Pokemon.

"All right, Vulpix. Use Flame Wheel," Tobias commanded.

The Fox Pokemon then built up enough energy to completely immerse her soft and shiny body in flames.

"Now Vulpix, use Quick Attack!"

The Fire-type was now running towards Kingler with such agility, that only a white streak was trailing behind her. ( This attack is somewhat similar to Pikachu's Volt Tackle attack. I call it Vulpix's "Flamefox" attack. Sorry, I couldn't think of a better name)

"Kingler, quick! Use Bubblebeam!" Marcus shouted.

Just because Kingler was immobilized by the Fire Spin, didn't mean that it still couldn't attack. It weakly outstretched its larger pincer outside of the flaming vortex, and released an powerful stream of bubbles towards Vulpix.

The rate at which the bubbles were coming, simply just could not keep up with the Fox Pokemon's speed. She cleverly dodged them all, and with her newly combined attack, Tackled Kingler, and it was once again, on its back.

But this time, it did not get back up.

Once Kingler was defeated, Marcus growled angrily, and bitterly recalled it back inside its Pokeball.

"You may have been able to defeat my Kingler," Marcus said, an evil grin creeping across his face. "But you won't be able to defeat all of us at the same time!"

They were then completely surrounded by Team Aqua agents, all itching for a battle.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the most adorable pink Pokemon appeared, waging its fingers back and fourth, with a little white light surrounding them.

A moment later, an explosion was heard, and all of the Team Aqua members were blown out of the opening in the cave. And the fossils that were once in their possession, were falling back towards Earth, until Vulpix jumped up and caught them with her teeth.

After that intense battle, the flames dissipated from the Fire-type's soft and shiny fur, then her Trainer praised happily "Wow, Vulpix! That was amazing!"

Vulpix blushed lightly.

"Oh, before I forget. Do you think you can use a very small Ember attack to get us out of here?"

Vulpix was only too happy to comply. She then dropped the fossils that she was currently holding in her mouth, onto the ground, then she puffed out a small flame out of her mouth to burn away the ropes.

Once Crystal and Tobias could stand again, they started to stretch to get the circulation flowing back to their arms and legs.

The raven-haired girl then bent down to pick up the fossils that were now lying on the ground-one of a Omanyte, and the other of a Aerodactyl.

"We had better hold on to these fossils," Crystal told Tobias, putting the artifacts in her backpack. "They may become useful to us later."

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, I know what we can do with those fossils."

"What?" Crystal asked.

"There are some highly renowned scientists on Cinnabar Island that can revive those fossils for us. We bring it to them, and ta-da. A fully revived Omanyte and Aerodactyl," Tobias exclaimed.

"How do you know that?" Crystal had to ask.

"I read it in a article in a Pokemon magazine once."

The auburn-haired boy then asked "Hey, Crystal. What happened to the Pokemon that saved us? We should thank it."

Now that he metioned it, Crystal did want to thank the Pokemon for saving them, but, it was nowhere to be found.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," she replied back.

Crystal then noticed a long, narrow hallway, on the left side of the cave.

"Maybe it's hiding at the end of that hallway? I'm going to check it out."

As Crystal ran off, Tobias shouted "You be careful, okay?" after her retreating form.

Her last words were "I will!" before she disappeared into the hallway; her echo vibrating and bouncing along the walls of the cave.

Not long after Crystal left, did a grey Pokemon appear on a stalagmite positioned very closely to where Tobias was standing.

The auburn-haired boy then proceeded to take his Pokedex out of his jacket pocket, to scan the wild Pokemon, and gather more information about it. (Yes, he has a Pokedex. Why the hell do I keep forgetting that all of these new Trainers have Pokedexes?)

_Geodude_

_The Rock Pokemon_

_Type:Rock/Ground_

_Height:1'4_

_Weight:44 lbs._

_When this Pokemon sleeps deeply, it will bury itself halfway in the earth. It will not awaken, even if hikers step on it unwittingly. In the morning, it will roll downhill in search of food._

"Hey, look Vulpix. It's a wild Geodude. Think you still have enough energy to battle with it?"

"Vul (Of course, Tobias)."

The Fox Pokemon was a little tired from her earlier battle with Kingler. But to battle with a wild Pokemon, so her Trainer could capture it, she always had the energy to keep going.

Geodude then jumped down from its perch on the stalagmite, only to land a few feet away from Vulpix. The Fire-type immediately started running towards Geodude, but, it retaliated by Tackling her in the stomach.

Vulpix was sent flying in the air, but she quickly skidded to a halt, and started running towards Geodude again. This time, the Rock/Ground element used another Focus Punch to strike Vulpix, but she quickly used Fire Spin to suprise Geodude.

The flaming vortex did slow it down a little bit, but it wasn't at all affected by the heat, thanks to its rocklike skin.

Geodude then used a Earthquake attack that caused Vulpix to lose her balance, and she was now lying on the cold earth on her side, but she weakly got up back on her feet.

_"This might take a little longer than I thought,"_ Tobias thought to himself...

* * *

Meanwhile, Crystal had finally made it to the end of the hallway, only to end up in a medium-sized cave. And there, hiding behind a huge rock, was the Pokemon that she had been searching for.

"Awww...come on out, little guy. I won't hurt you," Crystal softly spoke.

But, the Pokemon wouldn't budge from its hiding spot.

"_Hmmm...I think I know what will lure it out from its hiding spot_," Crystal thought.

The raven-haired girl then dug into her backpack, and found some leftover Pokemon food stored in a can. She poured some of the food into her hand and hoped that the Pokemon would come out and accept the offering.

_"Why is this human trying to coax me to come out?"_ the Pokemon thought. _"Well, I sense no evil in her, so I may as well give it a try..."_

The Pokemon was reluctant at coming out at first, for its kind was known for being very shy and timid around humans. but, eventually, it did come out.

"That's right. Come and get some of the yummy Pokemon food. I won't hurt you," Crystal cooed at the Pokemon.

The Pokemon slowly, but surely, inched closer and closer to Crystal, until finally, it was close enough to take some of the Pokemon food out of her hand, and started to eat it.

She then scratched it between the ears, and asked "Is it good?"

The Pokemon responded, by nodding happily.

"You sure are cute. I wonder what kind of Pokemon are you?" Crystal asked the Pokemon.

The raven-haired girl once again depended on the services of her trusty Pokedex.

So, while the Pokemon was still eating, the Pokedex scanned the creature, and it read:

_Clefairy_

_The Fairy Pokemon_

_Type:Normal_

_Height:2'0_

_Weight:17 lbs._

_This Pokemon is vastly adored for its cute charms and playfulness. But, it is also very rare, and hard to come by, because it is shy and timid around humans. On the night of a full moon, groups of Clefairy will come out to play. When morning arrives, they will retreat back to their homes nestled deep within the mountains, where they will sleep nestled up against one another._

After the Pokedex was finished, Crystal said "Hmmm...Clefairy, huh? You would make an nice addition to my team, not to mention, a new playmate for my Squirtle. So, how about it? A Pokemon battle to determine if you become my new traveling partner?"

After finishing its snack, Clefairy, with a smug smile now plastered on its adorable face, said "Clefairy!" (I'm ready to battle!)

"All right! Come on out out Squirtle, and let's see what you're made of!" Crystal shouted, as she threw a Pokeball high into the air.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon made a grand entrance, by having its shell spin in the air. Before it hit the ground, however, its entire body poked out through the openings in its shell, and it landed safely on the ground.

"Squirtle!" (I'm ready to battle!) it exclaimed proudly.

"All right! Let's catch ourselves a Clefairy!" Crystal exclaimed loudly.

The battle started off with a Water Gun...

* * *

Back in the main cave, Vulpix was battling with a wild Geodude, with the Rock/Ground element clearly having the upper hand.

As Vulpix weakly got back up on her feet; her breath coming in short, ragged gasps, she thought tiredly _"I can't let my Trainer down._ _I will absolutely refuse to lose to this Geodude,"_ Vulpix also thought with defiance and deternimation. _"There has to be a way..."_

As the Fox Pokemon was thinking this, she didn't even notice that all six of her flaming orange tails started to glow with a bright, white light.

"Is that...Iron Tail?!" Tobias asked with disbelief, remembering the name of the attack from his mother.

Indeed, it was an Iron Tail attack, a Steel-type move that was super-effective against Rock-types like Geodude.

"Okay, Vulpix. Use Iron Tail!" Tobias commanded.

Geodude decided to end the match with another Focus Punch attack! Just as it was quickly approaching, Vulpix jumped out of the way just in time, executed a double flip, and smashed her tails against Geodude's forehead.

"Geodude!" it cried, as the force of the Iron Tail was so great, that it was sent flying through the air, and it crashed against a pillar.

"Hurry, Vulpix! While Geodude is still down, use Iron Tail once more!" Tobias commanded.

The Fox Pokemon immediately again started running towards the Rock Pokemon, all of her six orange tails aglow with the same white, bright light.

She again did a double flip, and struck again with her tails, the same spot on Geodude's forehead, that the previous Iron Tail had just hit.

And that was it for Geodude. It just couldn't sustain the damage taken from those Iron Tail attacks to its forehead. It was now on the ground, swirls in its eyes.

Tobias took out a spare Pokeball that he kept in his orange-and-black backpack, and threw it at Geodude.

It didn't take long for the Pokeball to capture the unconscious Pokemon. After it stopped rumbling, Tobias yelled "All right! I caught myself a Geodude!"

"Vul (All-right)," she weakly congratulated, (sp?) before she collapsed onto the ground; swirls present in her own olive green.

"Oh no, Vulpix!" Tobias yelled, as he ran over to his fallen Pokemon.

He picked up Vulpix and took a closer look, only to notice that she just needed some rest.

"Wow, what a day you must've had," Tobias said quietly. "You've battled with a Kingler, helped Crystal and I escape, and you also helped me catch a wild Geodude," Tobias said, recalling all of the day's events.

He kissed Vulpix's forehead, and replied "I'm very proud of you, Vulpix. For such a small Pokemon, you sure can take on any challenge that is thrown your way," Tobias replied, as the Fox Pokemon continued to sleep.

"Come on. Let's go see if Crystal found that mystery Pokemon yet?"

Tobias put Vulpix down gently for a minute, put his backpack back on, scooped her back up into his arms, and ran off in the direction of where Crystal had run off to not too long ago...

* * *

The battle had started off with an Water Gun attack, but Clefairy easily dogded it, and it used an Metronome attack. With very little sunlight in the entire cave, the Fairy Pokemon used it to start charging it into solar energy. Crystal didn't know it at the time, but the attack that Clefairy was about to use, was called an Solarbeam attack, a Grass-type move that was super strong against Water-type opponents like Squirtle.

Finally, it was ready. Clefairy fired the fully charged beam of solar energy towards Squirtle, but it quickly avoided the attack, and it used Bubble. Clefairy was hit by the onslaught of Bubbles, and it fell off the rock it was just standing on a minute ago.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon then used yet, another Water Gun, but Clefairfy rolled out of the way just in time, and started to repeatedly slap Squirtle in the face. This was known as Clefairy's Doubleslap attack.

Afterwards, Squirtle was lying on its back; flailing about helplessly, and the Fairy Pokemon saw its opportunity, and prepared to Tackle Squirtle to end the match.

Just as Clefairy drew closer and closer, the Water-type quickly withdrew its entire body back inside its shell, as it started to spin its shell rapidly, which started to hover only a few feet above the ground.

"Hmmm...I never seen that attack before. I wonder what its called?" Crystal said to herself.

"It's called a Rapid Spin attack," she heard a faint voice call behind her.

It was Tobias, and it looked like he was clearly out of breath.

"Oh, okay. Thanks," she thanked Tobias. "Squirtle, use Rapid Spin!" Crystal commanded her Tiny Turtle Pokemon.

Squirtle obeyed, by having its rapidly spinning shell fly in the air towards the approaching Clefairy. The Rapid Spin collided with the diving Normal-type, and it was sent plummeting to the ground below.

_"Now's my chance,"_ Crystal thought. "Quick, Squirtle. Use Water Gun!"

Squirtle quickly came out of its shell, while still in mid-air, and released a powerful stream of water from its mouth.

"Clefairy!" it cried, as the Water Gun collided with its mid-section, and it landed on a huge rock in the middle of the cave. It was now unconscious with swirls in its eyes.

"Go Pokeball," Crystal yelled, throwing a spare red-and-white Pokeball that she kept on her belt clip, at the now unconscious Clefairy.

The Pokeball withdrew it into its contents, and started to rumble.

After it stopped, Crystal ran over to it, and screamed "Yes! I caught a Clefairy!"

"Squirtle, thank you so much!" Crystal happily praised her Pokemon.

"Squirtle," it said. (You're welcome, Crystal).

Crystal picked up it up, and gave it a kiss on the cheek.

The Water-type blushed slightly.

Afterwards, Crystal asked Tobias "So, where have you been all this time?"

"Oh, well. Shortly after you left, Vulpix and I came across a wild Geodude. And during the battle, Vulpix learned a new move:Iron Tail."

"Wow, that's cool," Crystal replied. "But why is she sleeping?"

"Well, after the battle with Geodude, she fainted. But, with just a little bit of rest, I'm sure she'll wake up after another hour or so."

"Oh, okay. Well, it looks we both caught a new Pokemon," Crystal replied. "You, a Geodude, and myself, a Clefairy."

"Yup." Tobias replied back.

"Now, if only we could find the exit out of here," Crystal replied, a little depressed.

"I think I saw the exit after Team Aqua was blown out of the cave. Let's go back to the main cave, so we can find it."

"Okay," said Crystal.

* * *

They ran back through the narrow hallway, and into the main cave, when they saw the exit just up ahead if they kept walking straight. They kept walking, until they finally reached the other end of the cave.

"Finally! We've finally made out of Mt. Moon," Crystal yelled, once they were back outside.

The raven-haired girl then walked up to a sign that said "Cerulean City-20 minutes walking distance."

When Tobias caught up with Crystal, she said "Hey, look Tobias. It says that Cerulean City is only 20 minutes from where we are now!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," said the auburn-haired boy, as he was already running ahead of Crystal.

"Hey, wait for me!" Crystal yelled, trying to catch up with her friend.

And so, the two Trainers were headed towards Crystal's mother's hometown of Cerulean City.

* * *

**Phew, I thought I'd never get finished with this chapter. but, I did. So, what did you think. I thought that the ending was a bit rushed. Well, anyway. it'll probably be a while before I decide to post chapter 5, but, that doesn't mean you guys should stop reviewing. Well, I gotta go. Gotta get started on chapter 5. Bye!**

p.s. Did you guys like the name I came up for Vulpix's combined attack?

_**Next time:Crystal and the Water Nymph pt.1**_


	5. Chapter 5:Crystal and the Water Nymph p1

**Hey, all. I'm back. I've decided to change the name of the title. (angry reviewers grab torches and pitchforks) Hey! Hey Hey! No need to start a riot! I've already updated with the fifth chapter of this story, so you all can just calm down.(angry reviewers calm down) Wow, that was easier than I thought. Hmmm...Oh, well. I had better get started with the story, before y'all decide to shoot me! (runs away scared)**

Chapter 5-Crystal and the Water Nymph-Part One

It was another bright, warm, and sunny afternoon, as our heroes are now resting in the Cerulean City Pokemon Center, after their little run-in with Team Aqua at Mt. Moon the other day. Crystal and Tobias were waiting to have their Pokemon returned to them.

"Hey, Tobias. I'm going to call my parents to tell them that we've arrived in Cerulean City. This could take a few minutes," Crystal replied.

"Go ahead," Tobias replied back. "I'll just be here, waiting for the Pokemon."

So, Crystal walked over to the nearby Videophones, and dialed in her home phone number. A moment later, a voice that sounded like that of a woman had answered the other line.

"Hello, Ketchum Residence," the woman answered.

"Hello, Mom? It's me, Crystal. I just called to tell you that I've already arrived in Cerulean City!" Crystal said to her mother.

"Wow, really?" Misty asked. "That's wonderful! Have you made any new friends on your journey?" her mother asked curiously.

Thinking back to Tobias, Crystal replied "Yes, Mom. I have."

"Well, what's their name?" Misty asked, really excited that her daughter had made a couple of new friends.

"His name is Tobias, and I met him when I was coming out of the Viridian Forest," Crystal replied.

"Hmmm...Tobias?" Mrs. Ketchum asked herself. "That's an interesting name. So, have you taken your new friend to see the Gym yet?"

"Actually, Mom. I was going to do that, just as soon as my Pokemon are finished healing here at the Pokemon Center," Crystal said.

"That's good to hear," Misty replied.

"So, Mom. Where's Daddy?" Crystal asked curiously.

"Oh, I sent him and Pikachu to the grocery store, to pick up some groceries, because we were kind of running out of food."

Crystal giggled. "That's Daddy. Always thinking with his stomach first."

Crystal and Misty then laughed at her comment.

"Well, Mom. I have to go. I love you both, and can you give Daddy a kiss on the cheek for me?"

"Of course, sweetheart. We love you, too. You behave yourself," Misty replied, a hint of mischief in her voice.

Crystal's cheeks were tinged with a light shade of pink, then she replied "Mom, stop! You already know that I'm well behaved!"

Misty laughed softly at her daughter's embarrassment. "Ok. Well, take care. Bye," her mother said, then she hung up the phone.

"Bye," Crystal replied, also hanging up the phone.

As soon as Crystal got off the phone, Tobias, with his Vulpix perched upon his left shoulder, brought with him, her Pokeballs.

"Thanks," Crystal replied politely. "Hey, Tobias. Let's go check out the Cerulean Gym. I wanna find out who the Gym Leader is," Crystal said eagerly.

"Fine with me," Tobias agreed. So, the two friends were headed towards the Cerulean Gym...

* * *

_15 minutes later..._

Our heroes had finally arrived in the very heart of Cerulean City, where a Gym had pink and pastel yellow stripes running all around a dome-shaped roof. There were strong white, yet thick, pillars surrounding the building, supporting its weight. Finally, there was a picture of curled up waves rolling under the underbelly of a large, white Sea Lion Pokemon with a horn on its head-A Dewgong. The words "Cerulean Gym" were written in big, bold, blue letters right under the waves holding up the Dewgong.

The two Trainers had walked in through the double glass doors of the building, and as they closed quietly behind them, they walked up to the front desk.

"Hello?" Crystal asked. No one was there to respond to her question.

"Hmmm...I wonder where everyone is? Come on, Tobias. Let's go see if we can find someone to help us," Crystal replied.

The two friends then left the front desk, and walked through a hallway that seemed to curve as they walked. Along the way, positioned on either side of the hallway, was what looked like an aquarium, with various kinds of Water-Type Pokemon, happily swimming and playing with their friends.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Crystal noted.

Tobias nodded his head in agreement.

Their walk had come to a complete stop, as they stumbled upon a room that was absolutely enormous! There was a swimming pool right in the middle of the room, a diving board sitting on the edge of the pool. On either side of the pool, were sidelines, just in case if an audience wanted to watch a Pokemon Battle. Floating on the surface of the water, were pool cushions.

In the water, there was a girl who looked to be a couple of years older than Crystal. She had dark red, shoulder-length hair, that was positioned into a high ponytail. Her eyes were that of a icy blue tone.

Her skin tone appeared to be so pale, that she looked like a porcleain doll in the reflection of the water. She was wearing a skimpy bikini, that had the most dazzling shade of sapphire blue embedded into it. The girl appeared to be happily swimming with her Pokemon, performing agile, yet, graceful moves underwater, looking as if she were performing an underwater ballet.

Crystal, being amazed with the girl's graceful movement, asked "Ummm...excuse me. Can you help us?" she asked, as she and Tobias walked down the steps.

The girl glanced up towards the newcomers, and with a smile on her face, replied "Sure. Okay, guys. Practice is over for today. Why don't you all take a nice, long rest?"

The four Water Pokemon bid farewell to their Trainer for the day, then they submerged under the water's surface. The girl then got out of the pool, and dried herself off with a towel that was lying nearby.

"Sorry about that. Now, what did you want to ask me?"

Only then, did Crystal get a close-up look of the girl, that she somehow looked familiar.

_"Wait a minute,"_ Crystal thought to herself. _"Dark red hair, icy blue eyes, pale skin. This can't be the same girl I used to play with all the time when I was little,"_ Crystal thought, but she just had to know...

"Excuse me. If you mind my asking, you wouldn't happen to be Sakura Waterflower by any chance, would you?" Crystal asked the pale-skinned girl.

The girl then looked at the army-fatigue clothed girl that was standing right in front of her quizzically. "Why, yes it is. Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, no reason, really. It's just that you remind me of a girl that I used to play with when I was little."

Sakura then took a closer look at the girl as well.

_"Wait a minute,"_ she thought to herself. _"Cream-colored skin, aquamarine blue eyes, and jet-black shoulder length hair...?"_

"Excuse my asking, but your name wouldn't happen to be Crystal Ketchum, by any chance, would it?"

"Yes it is," Crystal replied. "Why do you ask?"

_"I knew it,"_ Sakura confirmed.

"Crystal, don't you remember me? It's me, your older cousin, Sakura!"

"Sakura?" Crystal asked, her eyes disbelieving what they were seeing. "Is that really you?"

"It sure is," the redhead replied; nodding her head to confirm that Crystal wasn't seeing things.

"Oh, my gosh! It's been so long!" Crystal squealed, as the two girls giggled then hugged each other.

"Wow, Crystal! You've grown so much! When I've seen you last, we were still three and five, still playing in the sandbox," Sakura replied.

"The same can be said about you," Crystal replied back. "At first, I didn't recognize you because of your blood red hair," Crystal replied.

"What about you?" said Sakura. I see that your jet-black hair is now shoulder-length," Sakura commented.

"Yup," said Crystal. "So, how have you been all these long years? How is Aunt Misty? Is she doing okay?" Sakura asked her cousin curiously.

"Oh, Mom is doing good. In fact, I just called her earlier this afternoon. And the same can be asked of you. How is Aunt Daisy?" Crystal asked Sakura curiously.

"Oh, she's doing good."

As the two cousins were catching up on old times, Tobias rudely interupted "Ummm...excuse me? Ladies? I'd hate to break up this little trip down Memory Lane, but we came to find out who the Gym Leader is."

Sqealing with delight, Sakura pestered "Oh, Crystal. Who's your boyfriend? He sure is cute."

Blushing over Sakura's misunderstanding of her and Tobias, Crystal replied "Oh, no, Sakura. You've got it all wrong. Tobias isn't my boyfriend. He's just a friend who is traveling with me on my journey," corrected Crystal.

Disappointed that her younger cousin had yet to have a boyfriend, she instead asked "Well, do you mind introducing me to him?" Sakura whispered to her cousin, a slight tinge of red, the same color as her hair, painted on her cheeks.

Crystal, oblivious to the fact that her older cousin had just automatically developed a crush on her friend, replied "Sure. As soon as you become decent."

The redhead then looked down at her body, embarrassed to know that she was still wearing the skimpy blue bikini. "Oh, you're right. I had better go change."

She then quickly scampered into the ladies' dressing room. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Sakura finally reemerged from the dressing room, dressed in a pastel yellow shirt, sky blue shorts, white flip-flops, and a pair of black sunglasses sitting atop her head. Crystal, remembering to introduce Sakura to Tobias, led her over to where he was standing by the diving board.

"Tobias, I would like you to meet my older cousin, Sakura," Crystal introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you, Sakura," Tobias replied, holding his hand out politely for Sakura to shake.

"Likewise," Sakura answered, shaking his hand, blushing as she did so.

"So, Sakura. Do you know where the Gym Leader is? I was hoping I'd get to challenge him to a Pokemon Battle."

"You're looking straight at her," Sakura replied proudly.

"No way! You're the Cerulean Gym Leader?!" Crystal asked in disbelief.

"Yup. Have been for the last three years. You see, after Aunt Misty retired as the previous Gym Leader two years ago, my mom just swooped in, and took over, once again. It was a disaster. The Pokemon barely received any daily exercise, the Gym was due for a fresh re-painting, and any time that a Trainer had wanted to battle for a Cascade Badge, my mom would reply "Today's not a good day. Maybe next time".

It was horrible. She was abusing her duties as the Cerulean Gym Leader. So, it was up to me to do all of the hard work. All my mother had ever cared about was me and shopping. So, one day, I had decided to address the issue of being a responsible Gym Leader. At first, she thought that I was out of line for speaking so openly about the Gym being taken care of the right way. But, after a long and hard talk, she had finally realized, that I would much be better suited for the responsibility of a Gym Leader. And from that day fourth, all Gym Leader responsibilities were passed down to me."

"Wow, I just can't believe that Aunt Daisy would abuse the Gym like that!" Crystal said, shocked.

"Yeah, well the Gym is in much better shape now then when my mom was running it," Sakura replied; no longer wanting to speak about the subject.

"So, Sakura. Just out of curiosity, what was that dazzling display of graceful movements in the water that you had performed earlier?"

"Oh, I was just practicing for an upcoming undewater ballet called "The Littlest Mermaid." And, it just so happens, that it will be premiering here at the Gym next week on Wednesday night. And yours truly is playing the lead role of the mermaid princess!" Sakura bragged.

"Wow, Sakura! That's wonderful!" Crystal congratulated.

"And it would mean so much to me, if you guys could stay in town for a few days, and come watch my performance."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world. Isn't that right, Tobias?" asked Crystal.

"Yeah, I guess," agreed the brunette somewhat.

"Oh, thank you so much, Crystal!" exclaimed the redhead, hugging her younger cousin tightly. "You have officially just made me the most happiest girl alive!"

Tobias then looked out the window. The sun had just started to set.

"Hey, Crystal. We had better get back to the Pokemon Center before it closes," Tobias reported.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot," Crystal replied. "Well, Sakura. It was nice seeing you again after all these years."

"Right back at you," Sakura replied.

"Oh, before I forget. If it's not too much trouble, could I possibly challenge you to a Pokemon Battle tomorrow morning?" Crystal asked.

"Oh, it's no problem at all. How's tomorrow at 10 a.m. sound? I won't be doing anything then."

"Sounds perfect," replied Crystal.

"Great! Let me walk you two to the door."

So, Sakura led the two friends to the glass double doors of the building. As soon as they were outside, Crystal gave Sakura one last hug, then, they left for the Pokemon Center. A little while later, they had eaten, and retired for the evening. As Crystal lay awake in her bed that night, she only had one thought running through her mind:Tomorrow's Pokemon Battle against her older cousin to earn a Cascade Badge.

Well, that was part 1 of a 3 part chapter that I am currently working on. Part 2 is coming soon. So, stay tuned!

* * *

**(slaps forehead) I am so slow sometimes. (lol) I had forgotten to put this in the last chapter, but I would like to give credit, where credit is due. Credit to www (dot) bulbepdia (dot) com, and the Official Pokemon Handbook, for I have deprived the information of Pokemon described in the last four chapters from those two sources.**

**Phew! Now that I got that off my chest, see you guys later! Bye!**

_**Next time:Crystal and the Water Nymph-Part Two**_


	6. Chapter 6:Crystal and the Water Nymph p2

**What's up? I'm back! (reviewers approach authoress like a horde of zombies) Ah-ha! (authoress dresses in a lion tamer's outfit, complete with whip and chair) Back, I say! Back! Back! (reviewers back off) Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I was just about to introduce the next chapter of the story, before these crazy people were about to attack me. (gives evil glare to reviewers) So, you get the idea.**

Chapter 6-Crystal and the Water Nymph-Part Two

Bright and early the next morning at 8 a.m. sharp, Crystal got up, took a quick shower, and got dressed. She was excited, because today, she was going to battle her older cousin, Sakura, for a Cascade Badge. She slowly streched and yawned, then said "Well, I feel refreshed. I had better go wake up that lazy bum, who calls himself my friend," said Crystal, as she growled the last part of that sentence.

After making up her bed, she exited her room, and locked the door. Crystal walked across the hall, to where Tobias's room was located.

Crystal knocked lightly on the door.

"Oh, Tobias, she said in a sing-song voice. Hurry up and get dressed. I want to go out to the Cerulean Cape to catch another wild Pokemon, before I have to battle Sakura."

As soon as she had said this, she heard the familiar sound of the doorknob unlocking.

"All right. All right. I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby in 5 minutes," said Tobias sleepily...

Five minutes had passed, before Tobias finally came downstairs to the main lobby.

"Well, it took you long enough," Crystal said, impatiently.

"Let's go." So, the two friends were off, heading towards the fields of the Cerulean Cape, in hopes of possibly finding a new companion.

By the time they had reached the Cerulean Cape, there weren't that many other Trainers there, which meant, that they had gotten a head-start on 'rush hour', when most other Trainers would come in between the hours of 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., taking up any 'good battling spots' that were available. If they had come during that time, there's no doubt that all the 'good spots' would have certainly been taken.

"All right, Tobias," Crystal commanded.

"Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to split up. You search the east side of the grass to find a wild Pokemon, and I'll search the west."

"Okay, then we'll meet back here, once we have both captured a wild Pokemon," finished Tobias.

Then, they had went their seperate ways. Not long after they had split up, Crystal came across a small, odd-looking blue Pokemon, that had no arms, walked on two feet, and it looked like 5 green leaves were growing out of its head.

"Hmmm...I had better get some information on this Pokemon," said Crystal, as she took out her Pokedex out of her jacket pocket. The Pokedex then began to read:

_Oddish_

_The Weed Pokemon_

_Type:Grass/Poison_

_Height:1'8_

_Weight:12 lbs._

_This Pokemon searches for fertile, nutrient-rich soil, to plant itself in. During the daytime, while it is planted, its feet are thought to change shape, and become similiar to the roots of trees._

"Aww...You're so cute," Crystal squealed, after the Pokedex finished explaining.

"I must have you. Come on out Squirtle," Crystal commanded.

A moment later, Squirtle appeared, refreshed, and ready to battle.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!" Crystal commanded. And so, the battle for Oddish began...

* * *

Not long after he had split up from Crystal, Tobias was searching for about five minutes, in the middle of the long grass on the east side of the fields, until he came across a Pokemon, with an oddly-shaped head, its hands being two leaves, and its entire body being one, long root. 

"What a weird looking Pokemon," Tobias noted. "I wonder what it could be?" he questioned, as he took out his Pokedex.

_Bellsprout_

_The Flower Pokemon_

_Type:Grass/Poison_

_Height:2'4_

_Weight:9 lbs._

_This Pokemon's thin and flexible body allows it to bend and sway, to avoid any special attack, however strong it may be. From its mouth, it spits a corrosive fluid that is strong enough to melt even iron!_

"Cool," said Tobias. "I have to catch it. Let's go, Vulpix."

"Vul," Vulpix nodded, as she ran from her Trainer's side, to only a few feet in front of Bellsprout.

"Vulpix, let's start the battle off with a Fire Spin attack!" commanded Tobias to his Fox Pokemon.

Vulpix had released from her mouth, possibly one the hottest Fire Spins that she has ever created. But, Bellsprout just stood there, not moving an inch, until at the very last minute, it bent and swayed its body, to dodge the flaming whirlpool completely!

_"What?! That's impossible!"_ thought Tobias.

"It doesn't matter if it is able to bend and sway its body to avoid special attacks, it shouldn't have been able to dodge that Fire Spin!" he said. "Well, I'll just have to fix that, now won't I?..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Crystal had just ordered her Squirtle to use a Water Gun attack on a wild Oddish that she had just come across. The burst of water hit Oddish, and it started to jump up and down happily. Since Crystal was still a beginning Trainer, she didn't realize that Water-type moves like Water Gun, actually make Plant Pokemon like Oddish, even stronger. 

"Okay, then. Squirtle, use Tackle!"

Squirtle started running towards Oddish, but, it jumped out of the way in time, and while still in mid-air, its entire body started to vibrate, spewing fourth orangish-gold spores from the leaves growing on its head.

As Oddish landed on its two feet, Squirtle was completely showered in the gold spores. Suddenly, the Tiny Turtle's entire body started to tingle all over. It couldn't move at all!

"Huh?" Crystal observed.

"Something's wrong with Squirtle. I had better find out what that strange attack is." Crystal once more retrieved her Pokedex. It read:

_Stun Spore:A Grass-type attack that is able to paralyze the opponent_.

"Oh, no!" said Crystal. "My Squirtle's been paralyzed!"

At first, it looked grim for the Tiny Turtle, but then, Crystal came up with an idea.

"Squirtle, do you think you can use Water Gun to clean yourself of the Stun Spore?"

"Squirtle," (I'll try.)

The Tiny Turtle used up what very little movement it had, to weakly tilt its head upward, to spray a Water Gun onto itself. Once cleansed with the water, Squirtle shook it off its body, and wa-la. No more tingling sensation. It was good as new.

This made Oddish quite angry. It repeated the same process as before, but this time, it spewed fourth blue spores instead of gold.

"Squirtle, get out of the way!" Crystal warned.

And it's a good thing that it did. Because, if Squirtle had been standing in that spot a second longer, it would have definately been put to sleep!

Crystal then decided to analyze the new attack that Oddish just used.

_Sleep Powder:A Grass-type attack that puts the opponent into a deep sleep._

"All right! I've have had it! Squirtle, use Rapid Spin!" Crystal angrily commanded.

Squirtle withdrew its entire body back into its rapidly spinning shell. The shell then flew towards Oddish! Since the Plant Pokemon was unfamiliar with this new attack, it was unprepared to defend itself. The impact sent it flying.

"Now, Squirtle. Use Tackle!" Squirtle reemerged from its shell, lowered its head like a battering ram, and Tackled Oddish to the ground.

After the attack, Oddish wasn't moving. It was just lying there on the ground, swirls in its eyes. Crystal then took out a Pokeball that she kept on her belt clip. (You already know the rest.)

"Yes! I caught an Oddish!" Crystal squealed happily.

"Squirtle!" the Tiny Turtle cried happily, as it ran into Crystal's open arms, knowing that it helped its Trainer catch another new friend.

"Squirtle, you're the best!" Crystal praised.

"Squirtle!" (I know,) it replied.

"Come on. Let's go see if Tobias has caught a Pokemon yet?"

So, Crystal scooped the Water Pokemon into her arms, and ran off in the direction of where her friend had split up...

* * *

As Vulpix and Bellsprout were fiercely battling one another, Tobias commanded "Vulpix, use Fire Spin again!" 

Vulpix repeated the previous process, and Bellsprout had once again bended and swayed its body to avoid the Fire Spin. But, Vulpix's intent was to jump into the flaming vortex. And so, she did. The familiar feeling of feeling her own flames catch on to her soft and shiny fur, had returned. And it was such an exilirating feeling.

Bellsprout was now confused as to why its opponent had submerged itself completely in flames. But, it would soon find out why.

"Vulpix, use Shooting Star!" Just like with Oddish, Bellsprout had also been unprepared for this new attack.

The speed from the Quick Attack was helping Vulpix to run so fast towards Bellsprout, she looked like a shooting star streaking across the night sky. Bellsprout tried to whip Vulpix away, but, that wasn't a smart thing to do, as the tips of its twin vines had touched Vulpix's flame, and the twin vines had automatically retracted. Finally, the attack made contact.

"Bellsprout!" it wailed, as it was hit by the combination attack.

It was too much for the half Grass/half Poison type to handle. It had now fallen onto the ground, swirls in its eyes.

"I had better catch it before it wakes up," thought Tobias. (And well, you get the idea.)

Afterwards, the flames currently burning around Vulpix, have once again, dissipated. She then ran into Tobias's open arms.

"All right, Vulpix! You helped me catch a wild Bellsprout! Great job, buddy!" said Tobias happily.

"Vulpix!" (You're welcome.) Tobias then scratched her in between the ears.

"Come on. Let's go see if Crystal has caught a Pokemon yet?" The pair then ran off, to find where his friend had split up...

* * *

The two Trainers were to meet at their meeting spot, after they had agreed to both catch a wild Pokemon. But, they were running towards each other so fast, they didn't have enough time to stop, and BAM! They collided into each other! Crystal, now on her rear end, rubbed her forehead painfully, and said "Ouch! That hurt." 

"Yeah, it did," said Tobias, as he too, was also on his rear end, and rubbing his forehead painfully. Once out of the daze, Tobias stood up, and helped Crystal to her feet.

"So, I caught a Bellsprout," informed Tobias. "What did you catch?"

"An Oddish," she replied back.

"That's cool. Say, Crystal. What time is on your watch?" asked Tobias.

"Hold on. I'll check." The little hand on Crystal's watch was pointing towards the 9, and the big hand was pointing towards the 5.

"It's only 9:25 a.m. Hey, if we hurry, we can probably make it back to the Gym, with five minutes to spare."

"Sounds like a plan to me", agreed Tobias. And so, the two Trainers started to walk at a brisk pace, back towards the Cerulean Gym.

**Well, there it is folks. Part 2. Sorry if I got repetitive during the story. I couldn't think of any better words. Well, stay tuned. Because, next time, the conclusion to this 3 part chapter is coming up. And you all want to read that, don't you? Of course you do. So, just be patient.**

**_Next time:Crystal and the Water Nymph-Conclusion_**


	7. Chapter 7:Crystal and the Water Nymph p3

**(shifts eyes rapidly) Hmmm...the coast seems to be clear. No reviewers threatening me with death threats, to update this story. (out of nowhere, reviewers shout through mysteriously acquired megaphone, to update story) Geez! Are you people trying to make me go deaf?! (reviewers shout "Yes!") Ok, ok! The conclusion of this 3-part chapter is here already. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I now require the use of an hearing aid.**

Chapter 7-Crystal and the Water Nymph-Conclusion

Crystal and Tobias had finally made it back to the Cerulean Gym, five minutes before Crystal's gym battle with Sakura was about to begin. By the time they had reached the familiar swimming pool area of the building, they saw that Sakura was dressed in the same blue bikini from their visit the day before. "Hey, Sakura," Crystal greeted. Then, she noticed what her older cousin was wearing.

"Uhhh...Sakura. Why are you wearing that bikini from yesterday's visit?"

Sakura then replied "Oh, didn't I tell you? This is my Gym Battle attire. I always wear it whenever I challenge a newcomer."

"Hey, Crystal," said Tobias afterwards. "I'm going to sit this battle out. I'll be watching your battle from the sidelines, okay?"

"Okay," replied Crystal, sounding a little disappointed, because it would have been great, if it had been a tag-team Pokemon battle like last time.

"You'll be cheering for me, right?"

"All the way!" said Tobias, with a smile on his face. Then, he and Vulpix walked over to the sidelines, and sat in the first row.

(A/N:The referee from Chapter 3, will be used for this particular battle too. Sorry if I'm sounding lazy.)

The referee, who was standing on a short podium, was wearing black shorts, a black and white striped shirt, and holding two green flags in her hands, looked at the combatants, then replied, "This 3-on-3 Pokemon battle between Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City and Sakura Waterflower, of the Cerulean City Gym, is about to begin. The match is over when both opponent's Pokemon are unable to battle.

"Ready," the referee held up both green flags. "And...BEGIN!" the referee waved down both green flags.

Crystal had commanded her Clefairy to come fourth. Sakura had only clapped her hands together once, when a silhouette (sp?) appeared under the water's surface. When the figure came up to the surface, what appeared, was an adorable small, blue Pokemon, with a fin on its back.

"Horsea!" it cooed.

"Awww...You're so cute," Crystal squealed to the small Pokemon. "I wonder what your name is?" So, Crystal retrieved her Pokedex.

_Horsea_

_The Dragon Pokemon_

_Type:Water_

_Height:1'4_

_Weight:18 lbs._

_When Horsea senses danger, it will spew a dense cloud of ink from its mouth, to try and escape to safety. This Pokemon swims by cleverly flapping the fin on its back._

Clefairy had started off the battle, by skipping across the pool cushions that lay scattered on the surface of the water.

"Horsea, use Smokescreen!" commanded Sakura.

Horsea responded, by shooting a thick cloud of jet black ink from its mouth, to temporarily confuse the attacker, and buy it enough time to dive back under the water.

By the time the smoke cleared, Horsea was nowhere to be found.

"Horsea, use Swift!"

Suddenly, stars had come shooting up from under the water's surface. Clefairy was caught off guard by the suprise attack, and was sent flying into the air, until it quickly and cleverly, backflipped onto a nearby pool cushion.

_"Hmmm...I think I know how to get Horsea to come out of its hiding place,"_ thought Crystal.

"Clefairy, use Growl!"

All of a sudden, Clefairy's eyes and facial expression turned mean, then, it emitted a loud growl from out of its mouth, to surround the entire perimeter of the battle arena. A moment later, Horsea came back up to the surface, with its eyes closed, because the Growl was severely lowering its Attack power.

_"Now's my chance,"_ thought Crystal again.

"Clefairy, use Pound on Horsea!"

From the cushion that the Fairy Pokemon was currently standing on, it jumped into the water, and swam over to Horsea, until it was just at eye level with the aquatic Pokemon. Clefairy then slapped Horsea hard across the face, until it was sent flying.

"Clefairy, use Doubleslap!" yelled Crystal.

While Horsea was still in mid-air, Clefairy jumped out of the water, and started to repeatedly slap Horsea, until it fell back down in the water, with Clefairy gracefully landing on a pool cushion.

When the Dragon Pokemon resurfaced, it was unconscious.

"Horsea is unable to battle," called the referee. "Clefairfy wins!"

"Grrr..." growled Sakura. "I'm not going to let Clefairy win this time," she thought, as she recalled Horsea back inside its Pokeball.

"Let's go, Staryu!" Sakura shouted, as she threw a Pokeball into the water. A bright, white light flashed under the water, then the Pokeball returned to Sakura's hand.

When the Pokemon poked its head out of the water, in Horsea's place, now stood, a tan star, with what looked like, a red ruby in its center. Crystal, once again, had to gather information about this new Pokemon.

_Staryu_

_The Star Shape Pokemon_

_Type:Water_

_Height:2'7_

_Weight:76 lbs._

_Staryu communicates to the stars in the night sky, by flashing the red core at the center of its body. When parts of its body are torn, it can simply regenerate the missing pieces and limbs._

"Clefairy, use Sing!" commanded Crystal.

Clefairy started to emit from its voice, a very beautiful and enchanting song, that, whoever listens to it, human or Pokemon alike, will be put into a deep sleep.

"Staryu, dive under the water!" shouted Sakura.

Just as Clefairy's song was extending to the other side of the battlefield, Staryu had quickly dove under water, to avoid being hit by Sing's melodic properties.

"Now Staryu, use Tackle!" shouted Sakura.

Staryu had emerged from the water, spinning its entire body like an shuriken star towards Clefairy, knocking it off balance into the water.

"Staryu, use Swift!"

Now, Staryu had the advantage. While Clefairy was still dazed in the water, The Star Shape Pokemon had started to shoot stars from the center of its body, towards Clefairy's stomach, while still in mid-air.

Now, Clefairy had fainted, due to the heavy damage sustained from the Tackle and Swift attacks.

"Clefairy is unable to battle," the referee called. "Staryu wins!"

"Clefairy, you did a great job," cooed Crystal to her fainted Pokemon. "You deserve a nice, long rest."

"Come on out Squirtle!" Crystal cried. "Show Staryu what you're made of!"

Once the Tiny Turtle Pokemon was out on the battlefield, it had instinctively jumped into the water, as it too was a Water Pokemon.

"Squirtle, use Bubble!" commanded Crystal.

Squirtle had obeyed its Trainer, by blowing bubbles in Staryu's general direction. But, Staryu had reacted, by shooting a very powerful Water Gun from a nozzle on the top point of its head towards the oncoming Bubbles. The small spheres had been swatted away harmlessly, and the Water Gun had hit Squirtle square in the stomach.

"Staryu, use Tackle!" commanded Sakura.

Once again, Staryu had spun its body like an shuriken star, towards Squirtle, who was still a little downed by the Water Gun hitting its abdomen so hard. Staryu had Tackled Squirtle in the same spot on its abdomen, that the Water Gun had previously struck.

Now Squirtle had a little difficulty breathing.

"Staryu, use Tackle once more!" shouted Sakura.

It looked like it would have been the end for Squirtle, had Crystal not instructed it to use Rapid Spin at the last possible moment. Squirtle had gathered up what energy it had left, to dive underwater, and quickly create a huge whirpool in the middle of the arena! It was too late for Staryu to turn back, as it was caught in the powerful current, spinning around and around helplessly, as if it were being tossed in a garden salad.

"Squirtle, use Tackle!" commanded Crystal.

Since Squirtle was the one who had created the whirpool, it was unaffected by the strong current of the whirlpool. It then Tackled the still helplessly spinning sea star out of the whirpool from beneath, and into the air, where it couldn't do a thing, but await defeat.

"Squirtle, use Water Gun!" shouted Crystal.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon had used every bit of strength it had left into this Water Gun. It inhaled deeply, and the very force of the blast of water it shot from its mouth, had impacted Staryu so hard on its center red core, that it was sent flying back down into the water! When Staryu had resurfaced, its center core was flashing weakly.

"Staryu is unable to battle," cried the referee. "Squirtle wins!"

Once the whirlpool that Squirtle had previously created had dissipated, Crystal congratualated (sp?), "All right, Squirtle!"

"Squirtle!" it cried back happily. Sakura's facial expression had once again formed a scowl, but then, she had a smug smile on her face.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet, if I were you," said Sakura smugly.

"My final Pokemon will be a lot tougher to defeat. Go, Starmie!" Sakura shouted, as she repeated the same process, as she did with Staryu.

The final Pokemon that had appeared, looked like Staryu, but, Crystal had noted a few differences in this Pokemon, that had made the two of them, differ in apperance. For, unlike Staryu, this Pokemon had purple skin, multiple sides, and at its center, was placed, a very beautiful red jewel.

Crystal had once more used her Pokedex to gather information on this strange-looking Pokemon.

_Starmie_

_The Star Shape Pokemon_

_Type:Water/Psychic_

_Height:3'7_

_Weight:176 lbs. (Big deal. Since Staryu's evolved into Starmie, it's only gained a 100 lbs!)_

_Starmie is the evolved form of Staryu. This Pokemon swims through water, by spinning its star-shaped body, as if it were an propeller on a ship. The jewel at the center of its body is highly valued, and glows in the seven colors of the rainbow._

Before Crystal could even command Squirtle to attack, Sakura had ordered Starmie to use Tackle. Starmie was rotating its body like a boomerang, so fast towards Squirtle, that it didn't even get a chance to defend itself.

"I'll sure say this about Starmie," said Crystal. "It sure is a lot of a heck faster than Staryu!"

And this was true, for since Starmie has evolved from Staryu, and it has gained multiple sided skin for extra protection, it couldn't move around as easily as its unevolved form. But, with multiple-sided skin, also came, added quickness.

While Squirtle was defenseless in mid-air, Sakura took advantage of this situation, by ordering Starmie to use Thunderbolt! Starmie had once again, had to rotate its body, until it started to build up a small spark. The spark then had started to grow in size and intensity. By the time the spark was fully grown, Starmie had fired the bolt of electricity towards Squirtle!

Squirtle had felt unbearable pain course throughout its entire body, as it was struck by a very powerful Electric-type attack. Squirtle had fallen helplessly back into the water, a loud SPLASH! sound was heard, and The Tiny Turtle Pokemon had resurfaced, swirls in its eyes.

"Squirtle is unable to battle," called the referee. "Starmie wins!"

Crystal was utterly shocked, at how a Water-type Starmie, could learn how to use a Thunderbolt, an Electric-type move, that itself, was vunlerable to!

As she recalled her now unconscious Squirtle back inside its Pokeball, Crystal just had to ask "How did you teach your Starmie to use Thunderbolt?!" she asked her older cousin increduosly. (sp? Man, am I having trouble spelling tonight)

"Well, it wasn't easy," said Sakura. "At first, Starmie had usually fainted, because the pain of the Thunderbolt was so intense. It was so determined to learn that attck, that, it spent day-after-day, using that same attack, getting stronger and stronger. Before long, it was very well used to the pain, until it felt like it wasn't even there anymore. So now, anytime that Starmie is battling against a Pokemon of the same type, it has that little suprise waiting for them.

"Wow, that's cool!" said Crystal. "But, we had better finish this battle up. Go Oddish!" Crystal yelled, as she threw one last Pokeball.

The small, blue Plant Pokemon appeared a moment later, looking as cute as ever.

"Starmie, use Tackle!"

Starmie once again started to rotate its body like a boomerang. Since Oddish was so small, it couldn't get out of the way in time, and it ended up being Tackled into the water.

Once the Plant Pokemon came back to the surface, it was keeping its body afloat, by kicking its legs up and down in the water.

"Oddish, use Absorb!" Oddish had focused all of its leaves upward, to gather energy from Starmie.

"Starmie, use Harden!"

The Star Shape Pokemon's multi-sided skin had started to harden, to add extra defense. But even though it used Harden to up its defense, it was still being drained of its energy by Oddish's Absorb attack, little-by-little.

"Starmie, use Water Gun!"

The Star Shape shot a very poweful blast of water from the jewel in its center, towards Oddish, blowing the Plant Pokemon completely out of the water!

"Now Starmie, use Tackle once more!" Starmie did as it was told.

The sea star once more flew like a boomerang towards Oddish, leaving the Plant Pokemon totally helpless in mid-air.

But, Crystal, with her last-minute tactics, commanded "Oddish, use Stun Spore!"

Oddish, with a smug smile on its face, had faked being helpless, to draw Starmie into a false sense of security. As soon as Starmie drew close enough, Oddish started to vibrate its entire body, emitting golden spores from the leaves on its head.

As soon as the golden spores scattered around Starmie, The Star Shape Pokemon had suddenly started to shake violently, and felt its entire body go numb, falling helplessly back towards the water. But, before that happened, Oddish had cleverly grabbed Starmie by the sides with two of its side leaves, planted its feet on its back, and continued to leech Starmie of its energy with its three remaining leaves pointing upward, using Absorb, riding it like an Tauros, as they both were plummeting.

Just as Starmie hit the water, Oddish has sucked up the last bit of its energy, then let go, and landed on a pool cushion.

And just like Staryu before it, the red jewel in the center of its body, had also began to blink and flash weakly.

"Starmie is unable to battle," called the referee. "Oddish wins! The victory goes to Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City!"

"Yes, we did it!" cried Crystal, as Oddish hopped into her open arms.

"Oddish, you were great!" Crystal cooed. "Orrrrddish!" it replied back, happily.

Sakura kind of looked sad for a moment, knowing that her younger cousin had just defeated her. But then, she looked happy. She walked over to Crystal, and said "Wow, Crystal. That battle was intense. There hasn't been a Trainer, except for yourself, that has ever challenged and defeated me, just like you have now. And now, I would like to present to you, the Cascade Badge," replied Sakura, as she held out her hand, and sitting right in the middle of it, was a badge that came in the form of a blue raindrop.

As she claimed her prize, Crystal yelled "All right, I earned a Cascade Badge!" as she swung Oddish around happily, then recalled back into its Pokeball.

Then she ran up to Tobias, and hugged him.

Tobias's cheeks had been tinged with a light pink blush, as he was being embraced by Crystal's warm touch. (Awww...How cute!)

After she had let go of him, she had thanked Sakura for the gift.

A few hours later, Tobias, after being inspired by watching Crystal's battle, had too wanted to challenge Sakura. And he too, had emerged victorious, with a Cascade Badge.

_A week later..._

It was Wednesday night, the premiere of the underwater ballet, "The Littilest Mermaid." True to their word, Crystal and Tobias had shown up, to see Sakura perform. She was absolutely beautiful in her mermaid costume! Her blood red hair had been let down, she had light blue seashells covering up her chest, and where her legs should have been, they were replaced with a long and beautiful dark blue tail. She looked so graceful, as she dived, bobbed, and weaved around the aquarium, various Water Pokemon surrounding her, making her look even her more enchanting.

At the end of the performance, Crystal and Tobias were the ones who had applauded the loudest. After the show, and everyone had left, Crystal said "Uh-oh. It's too late to go back to the Pokemon Center. Where are we going to sleep tonight?"

"Oh, you guys can stay with me," offered Sakura. "You can leave in the morning."

"Wow, thanks Sakura!" thanked Crystal. So, Crystal helped Sakura over to the dressing room, to help her change into her pajamas. Afterwards, she showed Crystal and Tobias to the guest rooms of the Gym. After they had changed (they were undressing in seperate rooms, mind you!) they had went to sleep. Sakura had then shut down the Gym for the night, then she retreated into her own room, and fell asleep.

_The next morning..._

Sakura had gotten up around 9 a.m., to make breakfast for Crystal and Tobias. A few minutes they had woken up, to a delictable breakfast being laid out in front of them. After breakfast, they all had gotten dressed, and after Crystal had given Sakura one, last hug, she and Tobias were once again on the road, to travelling all around the Kanto region.

**Okay, I have to be honest with you guys. I did not like writing this chapter at all. I kept repeating certain words over and over again, and I feel as though it has taken away the value of the story. Oh, well. I'll try harder next time, to try and not repeat certain words. Well, gotta go! Bye!  
**

**_Next time: The Seashore City of Vermillion_**


	8. Chapter 8:The Seashore City of Vermillon

**OMG! Has it really been a year since I've last updated this story? (reviewers stare at authoress with death glares burning into her very soul) Okay, I get it! It's just that all that I've been doing for the past year, is going to college and writing another story for a different section of the site, so I really wasn't thinking of updating until just now. (gets even more death glares from reviewers)**

**(gulp) So, now that I am finished with saying what I needed to say, I hope that you all will enjoy the next installment of this great story. **

**Oh, and before I forget. From now on, whenever I describe a Pokemon, I will use the ruler to mark the information in the Pokedex as a seperate entry. Just wanted to make that clear. **

* * *

Chapter 8-The Seashore City of Vermillion

It was once again another bright and sunny afternoon, as our heroes were continuing their journey towards the Pokemon League in Indigo Plateau. The sky was a blue as a robin's egg, the fluffy white clouds that were passing overhead resembled mashed potatoes, and the bright light of the white-hot sun was harshly shining down upon the earth, intent on heating everything on the planet.

The scenery would have been quite peaceful and serene, if a certain raven-haired female's noisy complaints didn't suddenly pierce the afternoon sky like a hot knife through butter, starting to comment on how hot it was.

"Wow, I don't think that I've ever been this hot before in my entire life. And I think that I'm also starting to get a sunburn," she said, as she looked over her pale skin, and wiped away some of the sweat that was starting to form on her forehead.

Her auburn-haired friend, who at the moment was listening to her complaints, looked at her, and replied irritably "Oh, stop whining. I'm just as hot as you are, and the fact that you are complaining won't make it any cooler for the both of us."

"Well, I wouldn't have to complain, if it wasn't so darn hot out here," said Crystal, feeling like she was just about ready to pass out from the heat.

Tobias was about to reply with another irritable comment, when a soft and cool breeze suddenly wafted by, causing them to sigh in relief.

"Hmmm...that feels so nice," Crystal spoke softly as stopped momentarily; closing her eyes, and just letting the cool air give relief to her heated skin.

Tobias, who had now also stopped alongside his friend, nodded his head in agreement. The auburn-haired boy then took a quick glance over at Crystal, who at the moment, just seemed to be enjoying basking in the sudden change of temperature.

"_Wow, Crystal looks so beautiful when she's enjoying herself. Wait...what the heck? I've only known her for about three months, and now all of a sudden, whenever I think about her, or if I'm just around her in general, my heart suddenly starts to beats faster, and then I begin to blush furiously. Okay, what the heck is going on?"_ Tobias asked himself as he thought about his conflicting feelings towards his friend with a visible tinge of pink painted across his cheeks.

When the raven-haired female reopened her cerulean blue eyes, she noticed that Tobias had a light tinge of pink painted across his cheeks. So, feeling concerned about her friend, Crystal replied "Hey, Tobias. Is everything okay? You're blushing."

Noticing that he had just been caught, Tobias quickly distracted himself, by clearing his throat, and changed the subject by retorting "Huh? Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. Now, come on. At the rate that we're going, we should be able to make it to Vermillion City by sundown."

"Well, that certainly is good news. I'm just dying to get a good night's sleep," said Crystal happily.

And without saying another word more, the two friends were headed to their next destination...

* * *

Vermillion City was a small and quiet little town that was located next to the ocean. It also had its own cruise liner named the S.S. Anne. Every year on said famous cruise liner, a party would be thrown in celebration of Pokemon Trainers. To gain admittance into the S.S. Anne, a Trainer used to need to have a ticket on their person.

But, the use of a Pokedex is now required to gain entry. Well, all of that would have to wait until tomorrow. Because it was getting late, and the two Trainers had just come into town; heading towards the local Pokemon Center to get some well deserved sleep...

* * *

The next morning as Crystal woke up very refreshed, she had unraveled herself from the silk sheets of her warm and soft bed. Then she slowly stretched, decided to take a shower, got dressed, and went downstairs to the main lobby of the Pokemon Center to patiently wait for her friend to wake up. As she was about to walk out of her room, however, she noticed from out of the corner of her eye, that something was lying next to the lamp on her nightstand table.

As Crystal walked back over to the nightstand table, she delicatley picked up the fragile item that seemed to have been addressed to her. As she inspected the item, it looked to be no more than an fancy white envelope with a gold seal on its back.

-Flashback-

_The sound of wings flapping heavily could be heard, as a carrier Pidgey was flying through the bright, blue sky on this particular morning. The Tiny Bird Pokemon seemed to be in a hurry, because an item of great importance stuffed in its small, cotton candy pink beak, was late delivering said item to one of its many stops of the day. When the Pidgey did finally arrive at its destination, it started to flap its small and hollow wings to descend quickly, but, quietly in through the open window of someone's bedroom._

_It landed safely next to a lamp that was not in use on a nightstand table that seemed to be carved out of the bark of a oak tree. The Pidgey then opened up its beak, and placed the item gently next to the lamp. Now satisfied that it delivered sucessfully what it had been assigned to deliver, the Pidgey once more spread its wings, and flew out directly from whence it came; it still having to make many more trips before the day was through._

-End Flashback-

Twenty minutes had passed since Crystal had been waiting patiently in the Pokemon Center's main lobby, with the important letter that she had received earlier sitting in her hands. She was, without a doubt, very anxious to open the letter, but something stopped her from actually doing so.

_"Oh. I want to open this letter so badly, but, I think that I will wait a little longer for Tobias to wake up, so that we can both read it together."_

And wouldn't you know it? As soon as Crystal had metioned her friend's name, a loud yawn was heard, as he bounded sleepily down the stairs, dressed in his same attire, and his wild and unruly auburn-colored tresses messily pushed up under his backwards orange baseball cap.

The raven-haired girl giggled at the sight, as she said "Wow, Tobias. You look like you got in a fight with a pillow, and the pillow seemed to have won."

Tobias then replied sleepily "Yeah, well. I guess that you can say that. I've actually been trying for the past twenty minutes to tame this wild and unruly mane that I call my hair. But, it looks like that isn't working."

Crystal then replied cheerfully "Don't worry. It will probably straighten itself out maybe during the afternoon later."

The auburn-haired boy retorted "Yeah, you're probably right."

After a moment of awkward silence had passed between the two Trainers, Crystal spoke up by saying "Oh, I almost forgot. I was waiting for you to wake up, so that we could read this letter that I received together."

Tobias then replied excitedly as he sat down beside her "Oh. Well, what are you waiting for? I'm down here now, aren't I? So, go ahead and open the letter."

"Okay, okay. I'm about to," said Crystal cheerfully.

Now carefully opening the gold seal, the raven-haired girl removed what content the envelope hid inside-it looked to be an invitation of some sort_._

As they read together, the letter read:

_Dear Crystal Ketchum,_

_You are cordially invited to a Trainer's celebration being held aboard the S.S. Anne. There will be plenty of food, entertainment, and Pokemon battling. So, don't miss out on this once-a-year opportunity._

_P.S. You are permitted to bring along a guest of your choosing. To gain admittance, please have your Pokedex ready at the entry point._

_There is a first-come/first-serve basis. The ship will depart from the docks promply at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. You and your guest are expected to show at the pier at least 20 minutes prior to departure time. If you are not present at the docks by this time, the ship will leave without you._

_We look forward to seeing you aboard the S.S. Anne._

_Sincerly,_

_The S.S. Anne captain and crew_

When they had finished reading the invitation, Crystal exclaimed "Well, that was certainly nice of them to invite us onto the S.S. Anne, wasn't it Tobias?"

"It sure was," her auburn-haired friend agreeing with her. "So, tomorrow afternoon sounds like a plan then?"

Crystal then thought for a moment before replying "Looks like it. But first things first. I think that I want to battle the Gym Leader of this town for a Badge."

Tobias said "Okay, then. And I'll be battling alongside you in this match to help things got a whole lot smoother."

"Thanks," said the raven-haired beauty in response.

So, the two friends decided that they would go on the S.S. Anne tomorrow afternoon. Right after they visited the Gym first...

* * *

After eating a hearty breakfast, and thanking Nurse Joy for her hospitality, Crystal and Tobias set off to the Vermillion Gym. The weather, as soon as they exited the Pokemon Center, noted that it was noticeably cooler than it was the day before, making it all the more comfortable for the two Trainers to walk.

As they were walking deeper into the town 15 minutes later, Crystal asked "So, Tobias. Do you know where the Vermillion Gym is located, exactly?"

The auburn-haired boy replied "Well, according to the map, the Gym is located in the heart of this town, which shouldn't be too much farther from where we are now."

"Oh, man! I can't wait to face off against the Gym Leader!" Crystal said excitedly.

The auburn-haired boy looked at his female companion, and replied calmly "Ok, Crystal. Just calm down, okay?"

"Sorry. I guess I'm just excited is all." Crystal replied bashfully.

"Don't worry about it. And if it makes you feel and better, I'm feeling just as excited as you are," confessed Tobias.

As the two Trainers were finishing up their conversation, they were walking along a dirt road that lead to an enclosed area that seemed to be comprised of four tall buildings that were medium-sized, painted in different colors, and was cut off from the rest of the town. And nestled right in the middle of the rainbow-colored buildings, was the Vermillion Gym itself.

The medium-sized building had the same color as Crystal's hair in apperance, and various Electric-element Pokemon were adorned atop the roof; using their electric attacks to light up the big, yellow transparent letters that clearly read "Vermillion Gym". The heavy looking metal double doors to the Gym were also left wide open. This gave a look to inside the building, which seemed to be as black as the walls on the outside.

"Wow, nice touch," noted Tobias.

"Yeah," agreed Crystal in response.

"Well, what are we just standing around out here for? Let's go inside," the raven-haired beauty exclaimed calmly.

"Okay," replied Tobias.

Once the Trainers walked up the concrete steps and through the double doors, which were still left wide open, they were now surrounded in pitch black darkness.

"Hey, I can't see a thing," replied Crystal.

"Don't worry. Maybe walking will possibly trigger something," Tobias theorized.

And the auburn-haired boy's theory was proven correct, for as soon as they started walking, the lights that adorned the ceiling suddenly turned on, making it much easier for them to see. As they were nearing down the long hallway to where the Gym Leader was probably waiting for a challenger to battle, it seemed as though the concrete walls that were on either side of them, were starting to close in on them.

When they finally reached the double doors that, without a doubt, led to the Gym Leader himself, a bright and blinding flash erupted, and the cry of a Pokemon was heard; all the while the two Trainers were using their arms as shields to protect their sensitive eyes from the flash.

When the bright display of light had dissipated, they moved their arms away from their eyes, and nothing was heard, until they suddenly overheard the voice of which they had guessed belonged to the Gym Leader, taunting "Oh, come on! What was that pathetic display that you call battling?! Look, kid. If you couldn't defeat me with a group of worthless Pokemon such as yours, than you most certainly can't defeat anyone else. You know what? People like you really disgust me, because you give Trainers everwhere a bad name. Man, get out of my sight right now, and I had better not catch you anywhere near this place ever again!"

After the Leader had finished speaking, Crystal and Tobias were both appalled at the cruel and harsh tone that he used towards his challenger. Suddenly, the double doors flew wide open, and the two Trainers moved aside, as a tall and slim female that had chocolate brown hair, had ran past them; tears pouring down her cheeks.

Afterwards, Crystal felt anger build up within her, and her right hand curled up tightly into a fist by her side. Tobias noticed this, and replied "Man, you gotta feel sorry for that poor girl. I mean, no one should deserve to be talked to like that.

"I know. Come on, Tobias. We're gonna show that Gym Leader that not all of us Trainers are bad," Crystal replied somewhat aggressively; the auburn-haired male following quietly behind her, knowing full well that females were truly scary when you angered them.

As soon as the two Trainers stepped through the double doors that led to inside the Gym, a powerful jolt of electricty sprang out from the cheek sacs of a Electric rodent Pokemon just a few inches in front of them, catching them by suprise, and a feminine voice rang out "Well, well. What do we have here? A couple of rookie Trainers looking to challenge me?"

Crystal and Tobias then looked up, and found the source of which the voice belonged to. Perched high atop a makeshift rock climbing area, stood a tall and slim female that looked to be around the age of 16, looking down at them with a smug smile on her face, and her lean arms crossed over her chest. She was dressed in a black tank-top and army fatigue pants with dark brown combat boots. Her skin had a light tan to it, and her sunny blonde hair was pushed up into a long ponytail; it closely resembling a bolt of thunder, and her long bangs were covering one of her icy blue eyes.

Loyally standing next to the female, was a small, bipedal rodent Pokemon that had orange fur in color, and had a white underbelly. It had stubby arms that were colored half-way brown, as well as the soles of its long feet, which was more tan colored. It had two horizontal brown stripes on its back, and its bifurcated ears were also brown on the outsides, while the insides were bright yellow, and ended in a distinctive curl at the ends. Its cheek sacs were also of a bright yellow color, and its long, thin tail had a broad, lightning bolt-shaped end. It also seemed to be wearing a blue bandana around its short neck.

The girl and her Pokemon then jumped down from the rock-climbing structure, and they both landed safely on their feet just a few inches away from them.

The Electric-type cried out with a smug "Rai ai," and small sparks of high-voltage electricity were building up eagerly in its yellow cheek sacs, as if it was saying that it could not be defeated. Crystal then dug into her jacket pocket to retrieve her trusty Pokedex to gather information about this Pokemon.

* * *

_Raichu_

_The Mouse Pokemon_

_Type:Electric_

_Height:2'7_

_Weight:66 lbs._

_Raichu is the evolved form of Pikachu. This Pokemon's high-voltage electrical attacks can easily reach to up or over 10,000 volts. To avoid shocking itself, it uses its long tail as a ground to discharge extra electricity being stored in its small body._

* * *

"Who are you?" Crystal replied.

"Sparkx's the name, and Electric Pokemon are my game. And I already know the reason why you're here, kid. You want to battle me to win the Thunderbadge?" replied the girl named Sparkx as she still had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, that's right. And don't call me "kid," retorted Crystal a little angrily.

"Well, I just did, and good luck with that. You see, a lot of older and more experinced Trainers before you have battled me to win a Thunderbadge, and so far, not one single person has won one."

"Well, Sparkx. I and my friend here are different from the other Trainers that you've battled before, and I'm saying that you are not as invincible as you make yourself out to be. I know that we are going to be the first Trainers to defeat you!" the raven-haired beauty replied boldly.

At this comment, the tall girl laughed heartily, uncrossed her arms and ruffled Crystal's bandana with her right hand, then replied "Now, that's a laugh. I just have to believe it when I see it, now won't I?"

Crystal was not pleased by this. So, in retaliation, she forcefully pushed the older female's hand away from her head, and growled angrily "Grr...Don't touch me! And yeah. I guess you will."

"Heh. Well, just don't say that I didn't warn you. My Pokemon's electric attacks are going to electrocute you!" (I know. That was very lame, wasn't it?)

As the Gym Leader and her new challengers were walking over to the arena where their battle was going to be held, Tobias whispered to Crystal "Hey, don't let her get to you, okay? She is just trying to provoke you on purpose, so that your anger will cloud your judgement, and that in turn, will cost us the match. So, just calm down and ya know? Take a few calming breaths."

"Okay, I'll try." said Crystal. But, she couldn't help it. Never in her life has she met anyone that was so arrogant or boastful as the person who was walking right beside her.

Once the Gym Leader and the two newcomers were correctly standing in their place on the battlefield, the referee, who was dark-skinned, wearing black shorts, a black and white striped shirt, and holding two green flags in her hands, replied "This tag-team battle between Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City and Tobias Nonaka of Celadon City, against Sparkx of the Vermillion City Gym, is about to begin. The match is decided when either two of the opponent's Pokemon are unable to battle.

"Ready?" the referee held up both green flags, as she looked at the challengers, then to the Gym Leader. They both nodded their heads to confirm that they were, and she replied "And...BEGIN!" as she waved down both green flags.

"Heh. This is gonna be easy. Go Jolt and Storm!" Sparkx yelled, as she threw two Pokeballs out onto the battlefield.

"Come on out, Clefairy!" Crystal cried loudly.

Vulpix, who had been perched atop her Trainer's shoulder this entire time, had joined the Fairy Pokemon on the battlefield when he commanded "You get out there too, Vulpix."

When the Pokemon appeared, one looked like another Pokeball that was lying there motionless, while the other looked like a medium-sized bubble gum pink sheep with black stripes on its cone-shaped ears and long tail; curly, snow white fleece surrounding its head and upper body, and a sky blue orb for a tail tip that was siting upright on its hind legs. Crystal and Tobias automatically retrieved their Pokedexs to scan the Pokemon.

* * *

_Voltorb_

_The Electric Pokemon_

_Type:Electric_

_Height:1'8_

_Weight:23 lbs._

_Because of its height and appearance, many people commonly mistake this Pokemon for a Pokeball. Voltorbs are well known to use their high-voltage energy to self-destruct from either being angered or a slight touch to the top of its head._

* * *

_Flaaffy_

_The Wool Pokemon_

_Type:Electric_

_Height:2'7_

_Weight:29 lbs._

_The wool that grows around a Flaaffy's head and upper body are capable of easily storing strong amounts of static electricity, and if it stores too much, it will develop patches on its body where even downy wool won't grow. It also has rubber-like skin that protects it from being electrocuted by its own static electricity._

* * *

Shouts of "Vulpix, use Dig! and Clefairy, use Swift!" were heard loudly from the challengers side, as the Fire-type quickly dug a large hole into the ground, while her Normal-type partner stayed behind to fire a storm of stars that were hurtling swiftly towards their opponents.

But Sparkx already knew what to do. So, she instructed to her two Electric-element Pokemon "Storm, when Vulpix comes back up to the surface, strike it with your Iron Tail, and Jolt, use Screech to weaken their defenses!"

And on cue, just as the Fox Pokemon resurfaced from under the ground to connect a direct hit on Flaaffy, the Electric-type, with a smug smile plastered on its face, stood up on its hind legs, quickly sidestepped out of the range of her attack, and with its tail orb now glowing, fiercely swung and struck Vulpix in her midsection; sending the Fire-type flying back over to the challengers side on the other side of the battlefield.

Tobias, naturally worried for the well-being of his Pokemon, asked "Vulpix, are you alright? Can you stand up?"

As the Fox Pokemon shakily stood back up on all fours, she gritted her teeth, and responded with a weak "Vul," after having the wind knocked out of her from being struck hard in the midsection from that strong Iron Tail.

Meanwhile, just as Clefairy's Swift attack was nearing its target, Voltorb cleverly rolled in front of Flaaffy to emit a deafening wave of blueish-silver soundwaves to not only defend it and its comrade from the oncoming stars, but it also deflected them back to whence they came, and the soundwaves encircled both Vulpix and Clefairy; the both of them gritting their teeth in pain, as they both felt their Defense being harshly lowered.

"Quick, Storm! While they are momentarily downed, use Thunder Wave to paralyze them!" Sparkx commanded her Wool Pokemon.

Obeying its Trainer's request, the Electric-type quickly walked out in front of Voltorb, and it started to build up electricity in the tips of its ears. When the electricity was fully charged, it fired thin strands of blue electricity towards the downed Pokemon on the opposite side of it; and now said Pokemon couldn't move, due to the fact that the paralyzing effects of the Thunder Wave were encircling them and binding them tigthly together around the midsection; preventing them from attacking.

"Alright. Now that the Thunder Wave is doing its job, Jolt use Rollout on Clefairy, and Storm, use Thunderpunch on Vulpix!" Sparkx commanded her Electric Pokemon.

Hearing their Trainer's request, the Ball Pokemon started to roll towards Clefairy with increasing speed, while Flaaffy, still standing on its hind legs, wore an evil expression on its face, as its normally black and beady eyes suddenly turned blood red, and it gritted its teeth in anger, as it started to channel blue electricity into the tip of its left paw, the very current of air surrounding it becoming quite aggresive, and bits of earth from the battlefield itself immediately began to gather around it. As it was running towards Vulpix, it ran its Thunderpunch along the ground; creating a streak of newly scorched earth behind it as it did so. (Think of Sasuke's Chidori from Naruto.)

It looked like it would be over for the two immobilized Pokemon, until that is, Tobias came up with an idea.

"Quick, Vulpix! Shoot three Ember shots towards the ceiling!"

The Fire-type did as her master had instructed, and using what energy she did have left from the Thunder Wave greatly restricting her movements, fired three, small fireballs towards the ceiling; where they came raining down on the strands of electricity that were holding her tightly in place, and they were able to burn through; therefore releasing her from its hold on her.

As Vulpix shook her body out of the stiffness that the Thunder Wave had no doubt caused, she made sure to also to free her comrade that was still entangled in the strands of electricity. Once Clefairy was freed, it also shook its body out of stiffness. Just as the two Electric-element Pokemon came within only a few inches of striking distance, both Crystal and Tobias both commanded their Pokemon to dodge at the last possible moment.

By the time that Sparkx's Pokemon turned back around to attack their now freed opponents, it was already too late.

Crystal instructed her Fairy Pokemon to quickly jump onto Voltorb when it rolled back towards it, and Tobias commanded Vulpix to use Fire Spin on Flaaffy. But, Sparkx had anticipated this. So, she instructed to her Wool Pokemon "Storm, use Light Screeen to reduce the power of the Fire Spin in half!"

The Fire-type launched a powerful vortex of flames from her mouth, just as the Wool Pokemon now sat back down on its hind legs, and it pushed both of its paws forward, to create a goldish-yellow barrier to put between itself and the oncoming attack, hoping that this might work...

* * *

Just as Voltorb had come rolling back towards Clefairy with incredible speed, it waited for just the right moment to jump, and then, as the Ball Pokemon had rolled underneath it, it jumped and landed on its head; wobbily trying to keep its balance leveled. Of course, Voltorb was not pleased with this, and it tried relentlessly to shake its Normal-type opponent off of its head by rolling from left to right, but Clefairy just wouldn't budge.

_"If I don't think of something fast, Clefairy is going to lose. I have to find a way for Voltorb to stop rolling,"_ Crystal thought to herself. Then, an idea of using Swift to stop the Electric-element's rolling might just work.

_"It's worth a shot," _said Crystal to herself again. "Clefairy, use Swift to stop Voltorb from trying to shake you off!"

At hearing its Trainer's command, the Fairy Pokemon launched a flurry of swiftly spinning stars from its mouth towards the edge of what it guessed was Voltorb's forehead. And it seemed to have worked, because the Electric-type couldn't withstand the attack, and its Rollout attack had finally ceased.

The Ball Pokemon didn't even get a chance to retaliate with another attack, because Crystal had quickly instructed "Clefairy, now's your chance! Use Doubleslap on Voltorb!"

As soon as the Fairy Pokemon jumped off of the Ball Pokemon's head, and stood right in front of it, Sparkx knew that it was already over for Voltorb, as she watched it get slapped repeatedly in the face by its opponent while it was down.

"No, Jolt!" Sparkx wailed, as her Electric-type was sent rolling onto its back, and it tried its hardest to stand (Or in its case, roll) back up, but that proved to be pointless, as it fell onto its back again; this time with swirls in its eyes.

"Voltorb is unable to battle. Clefairy wins!" the referee called out afterwards.

"You did great, Clefairy!" Crystal praised her Normal-type happily.

"Clefairy!" it cried out as it waved its arms up and down back to its Trainer in the same happy tone...

* * *

Meanwhile, the battle between Vulpix and Flaaffy had become intense, as the Fox Pokemon had been instructed to use a Fire Spin attack to combat with Flaaffy's Light Screen. But, as soon as the vortex of flames came in contact with the goldish-yellow barrier, it was pushing back against it, then it began to diminish to about half the size it was when it was originally created.

"Ha! Kid, that's the beauty of Light Screen. It takes whatever damgage is associated with Special attatcks, such as Grass, Fire, or Water-type moves, and it reduces the size and power of that attack to half!"

And the Electric Pokemon user was correct. For while, yes, it was true that Light Screen did reduce the power of an attacking Pokemon's Special attacks in half, she neglected to metion that if said Pokemon were to use a physical attack such as Tackle or Headbutt, however, then the defending Pokemon would take normal damge.

Tobias then thought to himself _"Well, then I obviously have to use a physical attack to counter it, now won't I?"_

As he thought this, he then came up with the perfect idea on how to break the Light Screen barrier.

"Vulpix, use Fire Spin again!" he commanded to his Fox Pokemon.

"Oh, come on. Are you serious? Kid, were you not listening to anything I just said? I have already stated before that the Fire Spin will only be cut in half by the Light Screen," Sparkx commented irritably from her side of the battlefield.

As the Fire-type again released a whirlpool of flames from her mouth again, Tobias silently mouthed to use a Tackle attack, and she soon followed closely behind it, as it forcefully pushed itself against Flaaffy's Light Screen as it made contact. Suddenly, the Wool Pokemon felt extra weight being pushed against its Light Screen, as Vulpix Tackled the very middle of it; causing a small crack to appear in the process.

The Electric-type gritted its teeth in annoyance, because it knew full well that it couldn't lower its barrier to attack its opponent, because not only would that have been a foolish decision to make, but it was also what the challenger wanted it to do. So, it just continued to put up with the abuse, as its opponent again pressed the same extra weight against it; causing the small crack from where it had hit previously to grow and start to spread.

_"If I use Tackle one more time, the Light Screen should break," _Tobias thought to himself.

"Vulpix use Tackle one more time!" the auburn-haired boy commanded.

And on cue, Tobias's prediction became a reality. As soon as the Fox Pokemon had Tackled the same spot that it had struck twice, the cracks had spread to all corners of the Light Screen, and then it completely shattered into a million of tiny golden shards; leaving Flaaffy completely exposed to its offense.

By this time, the Fire Spin had dissipated, and the Wool Pokemon was now quite agitated by its Fire-element opponent. While it did have to admit, that it was quite shocked that the Fox Pokemon was the first Pokemon to actually think about breaking through its defense, seeing as its previous opponents either knew only Special-type moves exclusively, or they were too dense to realize that physical attacks actually cause more damage.

But, it now knew that it would never make that mistake again.

"Storm, use Iron Tail on Vulpix!" Sparkx shouted furiously to her Wool Pokemon.

Okay, now this is a move that Tobias had already seen earlier during the match, and this time, he was ready for it. Just as Flaaffy repeated the previous process on once again standing on its hind legs, then with its tail orb glowing brightly, was about to strike Vulpix in the same spot on her midsection. That is, if she didn't cleverly jump over the Electric-type's tail at the last possible moment; leaving it wide open for attack.

"Vulpix, quick! Use Ember on Storm!" Tobias commanded.

Seeing as it obviously didn't have enough time to react with another Light Screen, the Wool Pokemon cried out with an agonizing "Flaaffy!" as its exposed body was being hit without mercy by row upon row of tiny fireballs. Now weakened to the point of that it was about to faint, the Electric-type didn't even bother to fight back.

"Now, Vulpix. Finish the job with one last Tackle!" Tobias commanded.

And that had been settled. As the Fire-type was running closer and closer towards Flaaffy, it tried to attack the smaller Pokemon. But, its vision was so heavily disoriented, that it couldn't focus clearly, and the end result, was it crying out in a loud and final "Flaaffy!" as it was rammed very hard in the stomach by Vulpix. Now unable to go any further, the Wool Pokemon was lying on its back; swirls in its eyes to prove that it was unconscious.

"Flaaffy is unable to battle. Vulpix is the winner," the referee declared.

"All right, Vulpix! You did great out there, buddy!" the auburn-haired boy congratulated his Fox Pokemon merrily.

"Vul! Vul!" the Fox Pokemon cried back in pure delight at her Trainer.

As Sparkx looked at her first two unconscious Electric-types, her icy blue eyes flashed with anger in them, and as she bitterly recalled them back into their Pokeballs for a well-deserved rest, but she then remembered that her other two undefeated Electric-types had yet to be called out to the battlefield, and her bitterness quickly returned to a smug smile.

"You two think that you're such hot stuff, don't you? Well, you may won the battle, but you have not yet won the war."

And for emphasis, with only a single snap of her fingers, the Raichu that they had seen with her earlier had come running on all-fours out to the arena, followed by another Electric-rodent Pokemon running after it.

When Crystal had examined the smaller Pokemon that was standing right next to Raichu, she gasped in shock and suprise as she immediately recognized which one it was-it was a short, stocky, rodent Pokémon that had short, yellow fur with brown markings covering its back and part of its tail, which was shaped in the form of a lightning bolt. It also sported black-tipped, pointy ears on its head, and cherry red circles on its cheeks, which contained hidden "electrical sacs." It was also wearing a bandana around its neck, except that its bandana was red instead of blue.

It took a moment for Tobias to fully register in his mind which Pokemon that was standing in front of him at this very moment. And when he did, he too gasped in shock and suprise. The Pokemon in question was a Pikachu-a Electric-element and the same one that Crystal's father used, with the only real key differences between the two, was that her father's Pikachu didn't wear a bandana around its neck, and this Pikachu was nowhere near as strong and powerful as her father's Pikachu was.

But still, Tobias wanted information on this Pokemon. So, he retrieved his Pokedex to scan and analyze it.

* * *

_Pikachu_

_The Mouse Pokemon_

_Type:Electric_

_Height:1'4_

_Weight:13 lbs._

_This very intelligent Pokemon lives in wooded areas, often foraging for hard Berries growing on a tree to eat. To eat the Berry, it will release small, electrical shocks from its cherry red electrical pouches to roast it until tender. It it also said that if several of these Pokemon gather, their combined electricity could cause power outages and lightning storms in nearby cities._

* * *

Before Crystal and Tobias could command their two very exausted Pokemon to attack their new opponents, Sparkx instructed "Watts! Attack Vulpix and Clefairy with Volt Tackle!"

Clefairy and Vulpix were unprepared on how to defend against this new attack, as the taller of the two Electric rodents started running towards them. It then began to gain speed that was far beyond the range of a normal Tackle attack, until its body had become completely immersed in electricity! Never before had the two Trainers seen an attack like this!

Although the Normal and Fire-types had put up a good fight for most of the battle, alas, it just wasn't enough. Before they even had a chance to attack, it was already too late. As the Volt Tackle came into contact with their bodies, the massive wave of electricity that the attack had consisted of had also engulfed their bodies within it; causing them to scream out their names, before they were both Tackled out of the wave of electricity, and onto the ground, where they were lying on their sides completely unresponsive with swirls in their eyes.

"Vulpix and Clefairy are unable to battle. Watts is the winner!" the referee declared.

As Tobias ran over to his Fire-type's side, cradled her gently in his arms, and walked over to a nearby bench so she could rest, Crystal clenched her fist in anger and replied bitterly "Clefairy, return," as it returned to its Pokeball.

"Awww...what's the matter, little girl? I thought that you said that you and your friend were going to show me up? But, I guess now that you were just a lot of talk," Sparkx taunted.

Okay, that had been the last straw that had broken the Camerupt's back! The raven-haired female felt her blood boil over, and she was not going to let this older girl talk down to her like that. So, once she had returned the Pokeball to the belt clip that fit snugly around her tiny waist, she snarled angrily and was about to pounce upon the older blonde-haired female, had her friend not stopped her.

"Crystal, no!" Tobias shouted, reaching her in time and restricting her movements by holding his arms behind her own.

"Let go of me, Tobias!" warned Crystal in a dangerously aggresive tone.

"No! Don't you see? This is exactly what I was talking about. You are going to cost the both of us this match because you are letting your anger greatly impair your judgement. Now, think about the consequences that we both would have suffered had I not stopped you from attacking this Gym Leader. We would be banned from all the other Gyms in the Kanto region, and we also wouldn't be able to participate in the Pokemon League. Is that what you want, huh?" Tobias asked in a calm yet pleading voice.

Crystal then turned around and looked her friend in the eyes. For the first time since she had met him, his violet purple eyes began to water. The raven-haired female now felt guilty that she was the exact cause of his distress. So, as she remembered his earlier advice and started to count to ten very slowly, she could feel her anger slowly diminishing. Once he felt that she had calmed down enough, Tobias released his hold around Crystal's arms.

"Feeling better?" Tobias asked in a gentle voice.

"Yes, I am. But, I'm still feeling a little angry, though," replied Crystal.

"Well, ignore it, and can you please just promise me that you'll try to stay calm for the rest of the match?" Tobias asked in a concerned tone.

Not wanting to see her friend become sad again, Crystal replied with a quiet "Okay, I'll try."

Quite irritated that their match had been rudely interupted by Crystal's sudden outburst of anger towards her, and with her friend calming her down, Sparkx replied impatiently "Uh...hello. Have you two completely forgotten that we still have a battle going on? If you're not going to finish, then you will automatically forfeit, and you will have just wasted both your time and mine by coming here and challenging me."

Instead, the Electric Pokemon user's response was only met with a shout of "Come out, Oddish and Bellsprout!" as the two Grass-types appeared on the battlefield in place of their fallen comrades, proving that they weren't ready to throw in the towel quite just yet.

"If the challengers are ready to resume the battle?" the referee replied as she looked between the challengers and the Gym Leader. They again gave a affirmitive nod. Then...BEGIN!"

"Heh. Well, finally. This match is going to be over faster then the two of you can even blink," Sparkx retorted with the same smug smile again plastered on her fair face. Sparky! Watts! Twin Quick Attack!"

Before Oddish and Bellsprout even had time to react, both Pikachu and Raichu were beginning to run in quick circles around the Grass-types, until they became a yellowish-orange blur.

"Sparky! Watts! Use Twin Thunderbolt!" commanded Sparkx.

Once the two Electric rodents came to a complete stop, they quickly touched their paws and the tips of their cheeks together, to create a small spark that started to increase in size and intensity, until it became shaped in the form of a giant, electric dragon! When the dragon-sized bolt of electricity made contact with the inside of the tornado, or more specifically, the two small Grass/Poison Pokemon that were momentarily defenseless while in it that they left in their wake, pain coursed throughout their entire bodies as the two screamed in agony.

"Okay, enough playing around. Watts, finish the job and use Focus Punch!" Sparkx commented now quite bored.

Doing as its master instructed, Raichu, with its right paw curled, was now enveloped in a bright flash of white, then it started to run quickly towards the electric tornado, all the while screaming "Raichu!" intent on striking down the immbolized Grass Pokemon...

That is, if a strange goldish-yellow powder wasn't exerting itself from within the tornado to the outside. Sparkx however, recognized the familiar Powder, and shouted "Watts, stop! That's Stun Spore you're about to run into! Stop!"

But Raichu, who at the time didn't know that it was Stun Spore, unfortunately didn't have enough time to stop itself, and its body made contact with the goldish-yellow powder.

The Mouse Pokemon then gritted its teeth in pain, and it uttered a painful "Rai ai," as all movement in its entire body suddenly seemed to have ceased, and it was now at the mercy of its opponent's offense when they were able to break free from the tornado.

And speaking of which, while still inside the strong, rotating winds of electrical current, Oddish, although still having pain course throughout its small body, was able to use the blades of grass that stood upright on its head like a fan, to blow away the electrical winds, and in turn, were able to free both itself and its partner.

"Bellsprout, use Vine Whip to grab Watts's tail!" Tobias commanded, and the Grass-type extended the long vines from out of its neck, where it strongly took hold of Raichu's long, lightning bolt shaped tail, whereas said paralyzed Electric Pokemon was lifted high into the air, unable to attack back.

Sparkx then looked at her Pikachu, and angrily asked it "Why are you just standing around like that for?! Get out there, and use Body Slam to help out your partner!"

Feeling hurt that its Trainer used that tone of voice with it, it nevertheless obeyed, and ran towards the Bellsprout that was holding its partner high in the air with its vines like that. Bellsprout, however, was waiting for the right moment for Pikachu to come within range so that it could strike. And when that moment came, just as the smaller Electric rodent jumped high into the air to slam down on the The Grass/Poison Pokemon with every ounce of its weight, it cleverly jumped out of the way, and it used every last bit of strength that it had to bring Raichu back down to earth, where its paralyzed body was swung like a rag doll, and into said Electric-type, where it was knocked off balance.

While Pikachu was momentarily downed, Crystal commanded" Oddish, use Sleep Powder on Sparky!"

The Plant Pokemon then jumped in front of its teammate, and it started to vibrate its entire body, emitting baby blue spores from the leaves on its head. Fortunately for Oddish, Pikachu was not too far away from it was knocked into its evolved form. Unfortunately for said Pokemon, it didn't have enough time to get back up and avoid the blanket of blue spores.

As its entire body was covered in the blanket of sleeping spores, it felt its eyelids grow very heavy, and it started to rock back and forth heavily, before landing on its back; fast asleep in the middle of the battle! It was now stated that one Pokemon was heavily paralyzed and it couldn't move or attack, and the other was now fast asleep on the middle of the battlefield.

It now would be a lot easier to take the two Electric-element Pokemon down.

"Bellsprout, use Leech Seed on Watts! and Oddish, jump onto Sparky's back and use Absorb!" were shouted the commands from the challenger's side.

As the two Grass/Poison Pokemon got to work, Bellsprout shot out a Leech Seed from its mouth towards a paralyzed Raichu that was not standing too far away from it, and as the seed made contact with its forehead, it hatched out vines that tightly binded around its slim body, and it cried out in a painful "Raichu!" as it felt its energy continously being zapped out of it.

Meanwhile, as for little Oddish, who had now jumped onto a still heavily sleeping Pikachu's back, grabbed it by its long, pointed ears with two of its side leaves, planted its feet firmly on its back, and began to use Absorb to leech the Electric-type of its energy with its three remaining leaves pointing upward.

When Raichu had the last bit of its energy drained by Leech Seed, Tobias instructed "Bellsprout, use Razor Leaf on Watts!"

And alas, try as it might, Raichu was still unable to avoid the flurry of rapidly rotating razor sharp leaves that were sent in its general direction, and in the end, it cried out again in a painful "Raichu!" as it was knocked onto its back with swirls in its eyes.

Pikachu, however, would unknowingly suffer the same fate as its evolved partner, as it was drained of what energy it did have left. When Oddish did release its hold on the smaller Electric rodent, and jumped off its back, Crystal commanded "Oddish, use Tackle to finish the match!"

As the Plant Pokemon rammed its small head very hard into Pikachu's side, it cried out with a "Pika! Pika!" as it was now fully awakened from its slumber, but not soon enough to defend itself, and like its comrade before it, it too landed on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Sparky and Watts are unable to battle. Oddish and Bellsprout are the winners, and the victory goes to Crystal Ketchum of Viridian City and Tobias Nonaka of Celadon City!" the referee called out.

As said challengers looked at each other, and then to their Pokemon, they both erupted into happy laughter, as they picked up their Grass Pokemon and twirled and pranced joyfully, as shouts of "We did it! and We won!" were heard.

The Gym Leader on the other hand, was suprised to see that her two star battler Pokemon had actually been knocked out by two Pokemon that were much smaller and weaker than they were. And as she recalled them back into their Pokeballs without any emotion present on her fair face, she then realized that the girl who was jumping for joy in front of her at this very moment did come through on her promise, and she was defeated by a rookie Trainer.

As Sparkx walked over to the challengers, a small smile appeared on her face, replacing her suprise, and she said to them "Kid, er...I mean, Crystal. You got spunk, and I like that in a Trainer. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but, I admit defeat, and I would like to present to both you and your friend Tobias the Thunderbadge," as she reached into the pockets of her army fatigue pants, and pulled out two small badges that were shaped in the form of a small bolt of thunder.

When the two Trainers gratefully accepted them, they both replied in unison "Thank you, Sparkx."

So, as they were starting to leave, Crystal stopped for a moment and asked Tobias "Hey, do you think you could wait outside for me? There's something that I need to speak to Sparkx about."

The auburn-haired boy said "Sure, no problem," as he walked to over where his Vulpix was resting, cradled her gently in his arms again, and outside to wait on the thick, concrete steps that led inside to the Gym.

As the raven-haired beauty turned around to face Sparkx, she asked "Hey, Sparkx. Can I ask you something?"

The older blond-haired girl replied "Sure. Fire away."

Okay. Well, before I challenged you to a battle, was there by any chane a girl that you had previously as a challenger?"

"Yeah, there was someone like that. Wait, how do you know about that?" Sparkx asked in suprise.

"Well, when I came into this buliding, I kinda eavesdropped on someone's conversation between the Gym Leader and his, or at the time, I didn't know that you were a girl, her opponent. And the way that you spoke to her in such a harsh and cruel manner was absolutely appalling! Saying that she gave Trainers everywhere a bad name because she had a weak group of Pokemon?! I mean, how could you think that is acceptable without feeling ashamed of yourself?! Have you no sympathy?!" Crystal angrily exclaimed.

Sparkx, now in the same angry tone, replied "Okay, for one, where do you let off listening into people's personal and private conversations like that? And two," she replied before a wave of guilt and shame washed over her. "You're absolutely right. I now know that my earlier attitude towards that poor girl was completely unexcuseable. I mean, before you came along, my father raised me to believe that I was top dog around here, and as such, my competition was so far beneath me, that they weren't even worth battling. And for a time, I used to think that way about all of my previous opponents. But now that you have opened my eyes, and I know now that what I did was wrong, I'm going to start by making it right," she proudly exclaimed.

"Well, that's great to hear, Sparkx," Crystal happily replied. "But, I think that I am the wrong person that you should be telling this to. The person that you really should be apologizing to is that young girl that you battled earlier."

"Yeah, you're probably right," retorted the blond-haired female. "Hey, it's not too late. Maybe I can still catch her," she said, before running out of the Gym, and probably to her private bedroom, where she could make a personal phone call.

But not before replying "Thanks for the talk, and I hope that you and your friend will come back sometime and challenge me to a rematch?" as her one, uncovered icy blue eye glinted mischeviously, and her trademark smug smile once again appeared on her fair face.

As Crystal looked at the Gym Leader, her own cereulean blue eyes lighted up in mischief, and she said "You can bet on it!"

"Awesome, Well, I gotta go. Bye and good luck on all of your future Gym Battles!" Sparkx exclaimed before taking her leave out of the Gym.

"Bye and thank you!" Crystal shouted back before saying to herself "Oh, that's right. I left Tobias just waiting outside for me on the steps. I better get going too," as she walked out of the Gym herself...

* * *

When the raven-haired beauty appeared outside on the concrete steps of the Gym, Tobias looked behind him and said "Ready to go?"

Crystal replied "Yeah."

As the two friends were walking back to the Pokemon Center to heal their fainted Pokemon, Crystal said bashfully "Um...Tobias. I want to thank you for, you know? What you did for me earlier during the Gym Battle."

Tobias then looked at his female companion with a confused look on his face, and asked "Huh? What did I do?"

The raven-haired beauty then slapped her hand on her forehead, and replied "Awww...come on! You couldn't have forgotten that already? Remember when you told me to calm down when I was showing signs of extreme anger towards Sparkx? If you hadn't, then I really would have attacked her, and I don't think that I could have beared to even think about having been banned from the other Gyms. So, I just wanted to say...thank you."

The auburn-haired boy looked at Crystal, smiled warmly, and replied "Oh, that. Well, don't mention it. What are friends for, anyway?"

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence had passed between them, Tobias finally said "So, excited about tomorrow?"

"Of course I am. What about you? Are you excited about tomorrow?" Crystal asked.

"Of course," Tobias repeated.

"Hey," Crystal asked a moment later, as her cerulean blue eyes glimmered in mischeif. "I'll race ya back to the Pokemon Center."

"Okay, you're on," Tobias replied, taking his friend up on her offer.

And as the two Pokemon Trainers raced each other back to the Pokemon Center where they would get a good night's sleep, they both eagerly couldn't wait until morning, when they would take the tour aboard the deck of the S.S. Anne.

* * *

**Finally, I thought that I would never get done with this chapter. So, what do you think? I thought that the ending kind of sucked, but, that's only my opinion. Well, as I was saying earlier. I am so, so sorry that I haven't updated in a entire year! Grrr...I blame the stuff that I described on the top of the page. It's all their fault that I'm doing this now!**

**But regardless of the fact that I'm acting like a total psycho over what I'm spazzing out about, that shouldn't stop you people from reviewing. So, yeah. Just press that little blue button in the left corner, and leave me a review if that doesn't take up much of your time. Until next time, peace out!**

Next time:Battle aboard the S.S. Anne


	9. Chapter 9:Battle Aboard the SS Anne

**Holy crap! Two chapters written within a week?! I really must be on a roll (reviewers boo at authoress) Hey, you people should be grateful that I actually got up off of my lazy butt and decided to update for a change, okay? (reviewers chuck oranges at authoress) HA! You missed! (gets hit in the head with a orange) Dangit! Buch of ungrateful b(reviewers boo even louder at authoress)**

**All right! All right! Now that I am finished with saying what I needed to say, I hope that you all will enjoy the next installment of this great story. **

* * *

Chapter 9-Battle Aboard The S.S. Anne

The next afternoon after Crystal and Tobias both defeated the Electric Pokemon user, Sparkx, and won the Thunderbadge from her, they both were walking to the pier, which was located just outside of town, where the S.S. Anne was currently being docked. Since it would take a full day to reach their next destination, which could only be reached by boat, that would be their only option of transporation.

"So, what do you think the S.S. Anne will look like?" Crystal asked Tobias, making light conversation with him.

"I don't know. I guess that we will just have to wait and find out," said Tobias, returning the light conversation.

When they arrived at the dock, they both stared in awe at the massive cruise liner. It was like nothing they have ever seen before. The top half was painted red, while the lower half was painted white. It was reminiscent of the famous ship _The Titantic._

The ship itself was split into three seperate decks. The lower deck housed an outside cafe that looked like it could accommodate a huge audience of people if they prefered not to eat indoors with a wonderful view of the ocean. The middle deck was where the cabins for the Trainers onboard would sleep, and also where the party for said Trainers was situated. Small, circular windows were lined up on either side of the area for as far as the eye could see, providing a great view of the ocean, but not as great as if you were viewing it from the outside.

And finally, the upper deck of the ship sported a huge in-ground swimming pool and diving board. But, if you didn't feel like going swimming, then there was always the beach chairs that were lined up neatly in a row that you could lazily lounge in to soak up a few of the sun's rays. Or, if you weren't in the mood for sunbathing, then you could pull the large umbrella that was standing next to the beach chair down over your body, so that you can enjoy a little nap.

Situated on the very back of the ship, were two huge exaust pipes blowing out smoke that was no doubt being burned from coal.

"Woah!" they both said in amazement.

Once they arrived at the entry point, the person standing in front of the loading dock asked "May I see both of your Pokedex's please?"

Doing as they were told, Crystal and Tobias both handed to the man, their talking encyclopedias.

When he received the information that he needed, to verify that they weren't imposters, he said "All right. You're good to go. Welcome to the S.S. Anne."

He then gave them back their Pokedex's, and moved aside, so that they could board the ship.

Just as the ship was about to leave the dock, there was a massive crowd surounding the edge, wishing farewells to the passengeres aboard. Now that was all finished, Crystal and Tobias were very excited to sightsee aboard the celebration.

There was food set up on tables for as far as the eye could see, chandeliers were hanging on the ceiling, providing a soft and glowing light for all aboard the ship, small crowds of people gathered together to watch Pokemon battles, and Pokemon Trainers from all around the world, seemed to just be chatting happily amongst themselves.

"Wow, there's just so much to do on here, I don't know what to do first," said Crystal amazed.

"I know," said Tobias, agreeing with the raven-haired girl.

Suddenly, one particular area on the red carpet caught Crystal's attention.

"Hey, Tobias. What do you think is going on over there?" as she pointed with her index finger, towards a rather large crowd surrounding something.

"I dont know. But, let's go check it out," replied Tobias.

After a few Pardon me's and Excuse me's, and roughly pushing and weaving their way through the packed display of people, they finally found out what was causing the commotion.

Standing on one end of the red carpet, was a young man that looked as if he was in his mid-20's. He was wearing a black jacket with a white t-shirt under it, sky blue jeans, and white sneakers with sky blue stripes running down the sides. His short, dirty-blonde hair was neatly trimmed, and his icy blue eyes were sparkling quite brightly. A brown medium-sized Pokemon was standing next to him; its fangs bared and clenched together, as if it was about to bite something.

On the opposite side of the carpet, was his opponent. A young brown-haired girl that looked to be not too much older than Crystal herself, already had her Pokemon out on the battlefield. It was a small and orange Pokemon, with a small flame burning on the tip of its tail.

Before the battle had started however, Crystal and Tobias immdiately held out their Pokedex's to scan and gather information about the Pokemon standing right in front of them.

* * *

_Raticate_

_The Rat Pokemon_

_Type:Normal_

_Height:2'4_

_Weight:41 lbs._

_This Pokemon uses its whiskers to help guide it and to maintain its balance. Its teeth are constantly growing, so to wear them down, it gnaws on anything tough; such as rope or some other type of elastic material. The Hyper Fang techinique that it and its unevolved form, Rattata share is so scary, that their enemies are too afraid to fight back._

* * *

_Charmander_

_The Lizard Pokemon_

_Type:Fire_

_Height:2'0_

_Weight:19 lbs._

_This cute, lizardlike Pokemon is one of the three starter types often given to new Trainers by Professor Oak. The bright and burning flame on the end of a Charmander's tail indicates both the physical health and the emotions of the Pokemon. It is also said that if a Charmander's tail flame ever goes out completely, it will never be able to battle ever again._

* * *

"Raticate, use Double Edge on Charmander!" the young man commanded his Rat Pokemon.

Raticate started off the battle with charging towards Charmander.

"Charmander, use Ember on Raticate!" the girl instructed her Lizard Pokemon.

Charmander opened its mouth, and shot three, small fireballs towards Raticate.

However, the speed and trajectory at which the fireballs were approaching Raticate were just a little too slow for its liking, and it easily evaded all three of them. Then, just as it came within a few inches of Charmander, the girl commanded at the last minute "Charmander, use Double Team!"

The Lizard Pokemon quickly created three mirror images of itself as a last resort to hopefully slow down and confuse Raticate. But, that hope was quickly dashed, as Raticate used its sensitive nose to smell out the real Charmander; therefore charging towards it, and connecting its Double Edge with the Fire-type's midsection.

"Char!" it cried, as it was sent flying; its mirror images disappearing in the process.

"No! Charmander!" the girl cried out loudly, as the Lizard Pokemon had collided harshly into a nearby dinner table, and it now was laying on its stomach; swirls in its eyes.

"Aww, too bad. If you had trained your Pokemon a little better, you probably wouldn't have lost. But, I guess that we always can't get what we want, sometimes, huh? So, why don't you do us all a favor, and battle someone who's actually on your level?" the young man sneered at his younger opponent, as she ran over to her Charmander's side, cradled it gently in her arms, and ran off crying.

"If anyone dares have the courage to face me in another Pokemon battle, then I'll be waiting on the upper deck," the young man replied loudly as he started to walk away from the battlefield on the red carpet a moment later; his Raticate timidly following behind him.

Everyone in the audience who had just witnessed the young man's battle against his female opponent just a moment ago, had begun to comment in anger and digust; Crystal and Tobias included.

"Wow, that guy is a real jerk," Crystal replied angrily.

"Yeah, you said it," Tobias replied after her; mirroring her own facial expression.

* * *

The view on the upper deck of the cruise liner was absolutely breathtaking. The white-hot light of the bright sun seemed to shine brighter than it ever did before. The gentle blowing of a nearby breeze smelled of the ocean that the tourists were traveling on, and the also gentle rolling of the sky blue waves seemed to mesmerize anyone who looked out into them; various sea Pokemon jumping in and out of the water to greet the humans that were watching them from on the ship. But, alas, there was no time for this simple pleasure.

Twenty minutes had passed since the young man had annouced in the dining hall that he would be awaiting a challenge from anyone who had wanted to battle him. Now that there was a large crowd just waiting for someone to challenge him, he was just waiting patiently on one side of a battlefield that was situated on the deck right next to the swimming pool area.

Now starting to lose his patience, the young man impatiently replied "As I have stated before, if anyone dares have the courage to face me in another Pokemon battle, then speak up now!" the young man called out to everyone in the crowd.

So far, no one spoke aloud, or stepped out of the crowd to challenge the dirty-blonde haired, blue-eyed Pokemon Trainer.

Until someone in the audience voiced a very bold "I'll battle you!" and she stepped out of her place beside her friend in the audience, to take her place on the opposite side of her older opponent on the deck; her cerulean blue eyes flashing with anger in them, and her hand curling up into a fist at her side, at his rude comment directed towards his previous opponent.

"How could you say such cruel things like that! That poor girl gave it everything that she had in that battle, and you go and put her down like that?! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Crystal replied angrily.

"Well, what can I say? It's not my fault that a weak Charmander such as hers didn't provide enough of a challenge for my high-level Raticate. And why are you defending that girl, anyways? You didn't even know her," the young man replied cooly; as he was scratching his Rat Pokemon in between its ears.

"Well, that is true. I didn't know her, but, I sure can tell you that you should of at least let her get a attack in," Crystal replied sympathetically.

"And why would I want that? She had the perfect opportunity to strike me when she had the chance, but she stood there like a sitting Psyduck, and her Charmander payed the price for that irresponsible decision, by being easily defeated by my Raticate. It's like I always say-Defeat or be defeated," the young man replied smugly.

The audience gasped in absolute disgust at the young man's harsh attitude towards his opponents.

Of course, this had done nothing but fuel Crystal's anger even further to the point of rage. With her fist tightening up even more so much, that her knuckles were starting to turn a ghostly white, and her teeth were bared quite angrily, she replied "You know what, mister? I don't even know you, and I can already tell that you don't even deserve to be a Pokemon Trainer with an attitude like that!"

Crystal then noted that she had struck a chord in her older opponent, because his icy blue eyes seemed to dim as he replied angrily "What did you say to me, you little brat?!" apparently not liking being told off by a girl that was a few years younger than him.

The raven-haired girl puffed up a bit at the 'little brat' comment, but she just decided to let it slide, and with a smug smile forming across her petite lips, she replied calmly "Okay, number 1) I am not a little brat, and number 2) Pokemon Trainers are supposed to encourage other Trainers to work harder and perservere if they are defeated by an opponent. Not degrade and criticize them when they tried their very best, in which you seem to be so fond of doing."

Not wanting to get angry in front of his young female opponent again, the man just simply yawned; as if he was bored of hearing her talk or something.

"Yeah, nice speech, kid. But, in case you have forgotten, I believe that you challenged me to a Pokemon battle. So, if you don't mind, I would like to get this over with as soon as possible, before I change my mind."

"You know, I'm going to enjoy knocking you down a notch or two," Crystal spat venomously.

"Let's just see you try it!" the young man once more replied angrily.

"It'll be my pleasure. Come on out, Squirtle!" the raven-haired beauty cried, as she threw a Pokeball onto the wooden deck in front of her, to release a a small baby blue Pokemon with a shell on its back.

"Squirtle!" it cried eagerly, itching for a good battle.

"Heh. That's nothing. Come on out, Butterfree!" the older man cried, as he released a Pokemon from its Pokeball-it resembled a beautiful butterfly. It had large veined wings which were white with black markings, a dark purple-blue body, it's forelegs and nose were a pale blue color, large red compound eyes, and two very thin black antennae were sitting on top of its head.

From his spot in the audience, Tobias was able to get a clear view of the Pokemon that was hovering right in front of him. So, he pulled out his Pokedex from his jacket pocket, and gathered information about it.

* * *

_Butterfree_

_The Butterfly Pokemon_

_Type:Bug/Flying_

_Height:3'7_

_Weight:71 lbs._

_The waterproof scales on a Butterfree's wings allow it to fly even during the heaviest of rains. To defend itself from its enemies, a Butterfree will flap its wings very fast to release a toxic dust into the air. The forelegs of this Pokemon are covered in very fine hairs that will allow it to carry honey back to its nest._

* * *

"Butterfree, use Sleep Powder on Squirtle!" the young man commanded to his Butterfly Pokemon.

Butterfree started the battle off by gently flapping its wings to loosely release a cloud of sparkling blue dust into the air to surround its opponent, and to hopefully put it to sleep. But, Crystal already knew how to avoid this attack, and she told Squirtle "Squirtle, quick! Withdraw into your shell!"

Before the Sleep Powder reached the Tiny Turtle Pokemon, it quickly retracted its head, arms, legs, and tail inside its small shell to avoid the sleeping attack.

When she was sure that the Sleep Powder had completely dissipated, Crystal commanded "Squirtle, use Water Gun to launch yourself up to Butterfree's height!"

The Tiny Turtle heard its Trainer's request, and while it was still retracted inside its shell, it released a powerful stream of water from its mouth to launch its body up to its opponent's height.

"Man, you're just making it so easy for me to defeat you, aren't you? Butterfree, use Tackle on Squirtle!" the young man commanded.

The Butterfly Pokemon then flapped its wings to fly towards Squirtle while it was in mid-air, and it collided into its opponent's shell. But, that's exactly what Crystal wanted to happen.

"Squirtle, use Bubble on Butterfree!" the raven-haired beauty replied.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon, barely feeling its opponent's Tackle attack collide into its stomach, poked its head back out of its shell, and with only this part of its body exposed, it released a small stream of Bubbles onto Butterfree's exposed back while its guard was down.

"Butterfree!" the Butterfly Pokemon cried, as the Bubbles were hitting its exposed back, and it then was sent plummeting to the ground, whereas Squirtle pushed its arms, legs, and tail back out of its shell, and it landed safely on the ground.

Just as Butterfree was about to hit the ground, however, it pulled its body back up into the air at the last second, and it now started to flap its wings aggressively; obviously telling its opponent that it was not going to let its guard down again.

"Grrr...Alright! I'm through playing games! Butterfree, use Psybeam on Squirtle!" the young man angrily commanded.

The Butterfly Pokemon obeyed its Trainer, and it started to concentrate its inner energy into a small, rainbow-colored spark. When the attack was fully charged, Butterfree focused the energy into the tips of its antennae, and it fired the rainbow-colored beam towards Squirtle's exposed body.

"Squirtle!" the Tiny Turtle shrieked, as every inch of its body was sent spiraling into pain as the Psybeam hit it directly; trying its very hardest to stand its ground. It broke Crystal's heart when she heard her Water Pokemon scream out in pain like that, but it could not be helped.

"Heh. It looks like your Squirtle simply can't stand up to the power of my Butterfree's Psybeam," Crystal's opponent smiled smugly. "All-right Butterfree. Use Psybeam once more!"

_"Oh, no. It looks like this is it,"_ the raven-haired girl thought grimly to herself, as the Butterfly Pokemon once more started to concentrate its inner energy into the tips of its antennae to fire an attack.

_"Hey, wait. Why didn't I think of this before?"_ Crystal thought optismistically to herself a moment later. "Squirtle, quick! While Butterfree is charging up its attack, use Rapid Spin!"

Barely hearing its Trainer's command, Squirtle shook off its disorienting vision, and it steadily but quickly retracted its head, arms, legs and tail back into its durable shell, and it used what energy it had after being hit by that first Psybeam attack to start rapidly spinning its shell.

"Heh. You may as well already say that I've won, because that pathetic excuse for a last resort defense isn't going to help you now," the young man called out over to Crystal.

The entire crowd, including Tobias himself, held their breaths and hoped that the girl would win, as her opponent yelled "All-right, Butterfree! Ready...Aim...Fire!"

Just as the Butterfly Pokemon launched its Psychic attack against the rapidly spinning shell that was its opponent, a miracle, if that's what you wanted to call it, seemed to have taken place. Just as the Psybeam came within a couple of inches of Squirtle, it created a mini-tornado that was strong enough to put a barrier between itself and the oncoming attack.

The energy of the Psybeam made contact with the outer wall of the mini-tornado, but it never touched the Water Pokemon at all! Instead, the Psybeam was being repelled and reflected back at the Pokemon that had originally cast the attack in the first place!

"Butterfree!" it wailed, as every corner of its vulnerable body was hit with its own attack, albeit at twice the power! Now, Butterfree had a sort of dazed look in its big, red eyes, and it had started to hover around dizzily; as if it was confused or something.

Now was Crystal's only chance to strike!

"Quick, Squirtle. While Butterfree is momentarily vulnerable, attack it with Water Gun!"

Once Squirtle had stopped spinning inside its shell, and again pushed its head, arms, legs, and tail back out, it noticed that there was a post right behind where Butterfree was hovering dizzily, so that it could get a clear shot of its weak spot on its exposed back-where its Bubble attack had hit it previously.

So, as it waddled as quickly as it could over to the post, it started to feel an overpowering urge to pass out right then and there. But, it managed to fight off this feeling, and it started to climb the short, wooden ladder.

The raven-haired girl's opponent knew what the Squirtle was trying to accomplish. So, he called out to his Butterfly Pokemon in desperation "Come on, Butterfree! Snap out of it! The Squirtle is trying to attack you from behind!"

Butterfree tried its very hardest to heed its Trainer's warning, and it tried to attack Squirtle, but it was so heavily confused, that it ended up attacking itself in the process. When Squirtle had finally made it to the top of the post, it jumped off of the edge, and it inhaled deeply.

By the time that Butterfree had shook itself out of its confusion, it was already too late. It wailed in pain as it was hit full force on its weak spot right in between its wings by the powerful Water Gun, and it was sent crashing down onto the middle of the battlefield; all the while Squirtle once more landed on its feet safely in front of the downed Butterfree.

The Butterfly Pokemon struggled to stand back up on its four legs, but after it was hit on the back by a strong Water-type attack like it just was, it didn't have the strength to go on anymore, and it collasped onto the ground it was standing on; its antennae and wings drooped around it, and its big, red eyes having swirls in them.

Soon after Butterfree had fainted, Squirtle had started to sway back and forth heavily, then it collasped onto its back as well; swirls also present in its amber-colored eyes from the effect of the Psybeam taking what energy it did have, and using up the rest to attack the Bug-element.

As Crystal walked over to the spot where her Water-type had fainted, her opponent was obviously not pleased that he lost to a little girl, and he angrily recalled his unconscious Butterfree back inside its Pokeball. Then as Crystal came over to her opponent with her Squirtle cradled in her arms, she held out her hand in a polite manner and replied "That was a great match."

But the dirty-blonde haired blue-eyed young man slapped her hand away from him, and shouted furiously "Don't you dare touch me! Look, you only won because I was only being careless. But, I can assure you that will be a mistake that I will not make twice! So, the next time that we meet, I will be the one that will have won, do you understand me?!"

Crystal was shocked and said nothing, as she was pushed roughly to the ground by the man; invoking Tobias to run and be by her side in a flash, and he then growled dangerously at him "Hey! Leave her alone! There was no reason to push her down like that!"

Already infuriated by his loss, and not wanting to be made angrier than he already was, he spat venomously "Mind your own business, boy. This doesn't concern you."

Now angry himself that he was being told to mind his own business, when it obviously concerned the matter of his friend, he replied angrily "Yes, it does concern me, because this is my friend that you just pushed down. So, no. I will not mind my own business."

Now Crystal looked a little scared, because she was afraid that Tobias was going to pick a fight with someone who was clearly twice his own height and weight in front of all these people. But, he just growled once more, than roughly and rudely pushed his way to get through the packed display of people.

After he had left, Tobias helped Crystal to stand up on her two feet, and he asked gently "Are you ok, Crystal? That bully didn't hurt you, did he?"

The raven-haired beauty replied calmly "Yes, Tobias. I'm fine. But, I was just a little scared that you were going to pick a fight with him in front of all these people, though."

The brunette replied bravely "Nah. He wouldn't be worth the effort."

At this comment, Crystal giggled and rolled her eyes playfully.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence in between them, Crystal's graceful facial features quickly turned from cheerfulness to worry, as she replied "Tobias, I'm worried. What do you think that guy meant, when he said "the next time that we meet?"

Tobias then said to Crystal optismistically "Don't worry. He probably didn't know what he was talking about, and he was just being a sore loser all because he lost to you. I highly doubt that we'll be seeing him for a while."

All of a sudden feeling silly for being worried over a petty reason like that, the raven-haired girl replied with cheerfulness once more present on her fair face "You're right, Tobias. I don't know what I was thinking."

Not realizing that they had both been staring into each other's eyes for at least a minute and a half, they both blushed slightly, and quickly turned in the opposite direction, all the while Tobias distracted himself by asking "So, Crystal. We had better take Squirtle to the on-deck Pokemon Center.

Crystal agreed wholeheartedly, and replied "Yeah, you're right. It deserves a nice, long rest after the way it battled today."

So, the two friends went back down the way that they had come to the nearest Pokemon Center...

* * *

Later that evening_..._

Later that evening, Crystal knew that she was feeling quite restless and couldn't go to sleep, so she decided to step out of her room for a little while to get some fresh air. As she stepped onto the main deck of the ship where she had battled that self-centered Pokemon Trainer earlier, a cool breeze swept by her long shoulder-length coal black hair, as she firmly held on to the railing.

Wearing nothing but a black tank top, cotton candy pink pajama bottoms, and cream-colored slippers, Crystal admired the peaceful scenery that was surrounding her at the moment; despite how late it was at this time of night. The full robin's egg blue moon that was shining high in the sky was glowing softly. The ocean was calming and relaxing as the waves were rolling gently underneath the underbelly of the ship. There didn't seemed to be a single cloud in the sky, and the stars decided to come out and play tonight; the celestial beings all individually sparkling like tiny diamonds.

The scenery suddenly reminded Crystal of the night before she became a official Pokemon Trainer, and of her parents. The raven-haired beauty knew that she missed her parents quite terribly, but that was just one of the hardships of becoming a Pokemon Trainer.

As Crystal continued to gaze longingly at the nighttime sky, a soft voice replied "Want some company?" The girl already knew the voice of which the question had originated from, and she said "Sure."

As Tobias walked up to her wearing nothing but a white t-shirt and black sweatpants, Crystal asked "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"Nope," was his only reply.

As the auburn-haired boy took a glance at his friend from where he was standing next to her, his cheeks were tinged with a flush of red. He noticed that she wasn't wearing her army fatigue bandanna for the first time since they had met; which allowed for a soft and cool breeze to sweep through her shoulder-length coal black hair, her creamy complexion seemed to radiate the essence of a goddess, as the light of the moon was softly shining upon her, her choice of nighttime attire was doing her petite figure absolute justice, and her small, petite and pouty lips curved upward into a dreamy smile as she sighed softly to herself.

It was a good thing that the darkness was hidng his blush when she was looking in his general direction.

_"Wait...Why am I feeling this way towards her?"_ Tobias asked himself a moment later. _"I mean, it's strange because I never felt this way about a girl before. But with her, it's a completely different story. She makes me feel as if I'm the luckiest guy in the world when I am in her presence. She is just so beautiful."_

As Tobias was having this conflicting inner battle with himself about his feelings towards Crystal, said girl replied quietly "It's absolutely breathtaking out here tonight, isn't it Tobias?"

The auburn-haired boy then replied absentmindely "Hmmm...Did you just say something, Crystal?"

The raven-haired girl repeated her question "I said that isn't it absolutely breathtaking out here tonight?"

Tobias, feeling embarassed for not answering her when she had first asked him, he replied "Yes, it is."

He had also wanted to reply _"You're absolutely breathtaking out here tonight, too,"_ to her, but he kept that thought to himself.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, Tobias felt something warm on his right shoulder. He looked down to see that Crystal was resting her head on his shoulder. Of course, this had made the auburn-haired boy's heartbeat speed up, and his pale cheeks were once again tinged with a light shade of red, but he otherwise enjoyed the closeness of her touch.

They had stayed in that position for a few more minutes, before Crystal had started yawning, and she replied softly "I'm starting to get a little sleepy. I think that I'll head back in now. Goodnight, Tobias. Sweet dreams," before she had lifted her head off of said boy's shoulder, and walked back in to the direction of her cabin.

"Yeah, goodnight," the auburn-haired boy spoke softly behind his female companion's retreating figure.

Not long after she had left, Tobias had already started to yearn for Crystal's warm and gentle touch.

_"No, this isn't right," _the auburn-haired boy scolded himself. _"I can't start to like Crystal now. We still have to work on our friendship first. There will be plenty of time to tell her how I feel after this journey is over."_

Even though it hurt Tobias a great deal inside to make this difficult decision, he knew that it had to be done. So, as he walked back to his own cabin, someone in the heavens must of overheard the choice that he had made, because the stars in the sky had started to dim sadly.

* * *

**Awww...Poor Tobias. Starting to like a girl at your age, only to discover that you have to put your feelings for her on hold for a little while. :( But, yeah. I'll try to not be so much of a lazy bum this time, and I'll probably upload the next chapter of the story sometime around next month. So, until then, please don't give up on this story, and leave at least one good review for me or something. Bye!**

Next time:The Celadon City Perfume Shop


	10. Chapter 10:The Celadon City Perfume Shop

**Hey, everyone. It's me. Sorry about not updating in the last three months. (grins nervously) I guess that I didn't realize it until I looked at my last update date and said "Man, I gotta get back to work on the next chapter."**

**Wow, that speech was incredibly short. Lol. Oh, and before I forget, I would like to dedicate the chapter to comentdacat, for being so totally awesome for always helping me plan out my chapters ahead of time (high fives), and dragonmaster 12 for constantly bugging me to update this story. (glares evily) Yeah, ya know who you are. Lol. So, now that I'm done talking, I would to present to all of my faithful reviewers, the next installment of Crystal Ketchum:A New Generation Begins.**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 10-The Celadon City Perfume Shop

When last we left off, our heroes were enjoying a small vacation aboard the S.S. Anne, only later to come across a short-tempered and cold-hearted Pokemon Trainer, who's preferred method of defeating his opponents, was to raise strong Pokemon that could win. When Crystal defeated the Pokemon Trainer, he said that his loss to her was only a fluke, and that it would never happen again. And in today's episode (chapter) the two Pokemon Trainers should be arriving in Celadon City, Tobias's hometown.

* * *

As the cruise liner continued to roll along the gentle sky blue waves under the warm morning sunshine, the loudspeaker that was located atop the wall nearest the passengers aboard suddenly sprang to life. The captain spoke loudly "Good morning, passengers. As you may, or not may, be aware, we will be arriving at the Celadon City harbor within the hour. So, for those of you that are destined to get off at that stop, please gather all of your belongings, and be ready to depart, when the ship has pulled to a complete stop within the harbor. Thank you."

When the captain finished speaking, and the loudspeaker crackled into quietness once more, Tobias's violet purple eyes sparkled brightly, as he cheerfully replied "Yes. I'm finally returning home after a very long time."

"Vul!" (I'm so excited!) excitedly exclaimed Vulpix from her position on Tobias's shoulder.

"How long away have you been away from home?" asked Crystal afterwards.

"Hmmm...I think I left Celadon just a little bit before you started your journey," retorted the auburn-haired youth.

"Oh. What is your hometown like?" asked the raven-haired girl.

"What is my hometown like?" repeated Tobias afterwards. "Hmmm...Well, I guess you could say that the locals are cheerful and energetic."

"Oh. Hey, if you don't mind, when we get into town, could you maybe give me a tour? I would like to sightsee all of the places and attractions your hometown has to offer, before we challenge the Gym Leader," replied the raven-haired beauty.

"No, I don't mind. I would be honored to give you a tour of my beloved Celadon City," retorted the auburn-haired boy happily...

* * *

It had felt like an eternity before the next hour had finally arrived for both Crystal and Tobias, and they could clearly see a harbor within their sharp and clear vision.

The loudspeaker then once again crackled to life, as the deep and gruff voice of the captain replied "We will be arriving at the Celadon City harbor in about fifteen minutes. So, once again, for those of you that are destined to depart at this stop, please gather all of your belongings. Thank you."

When the loudspeaker went silent again, Tobias looked at Crystal, and replied "When we get into town, I would like to introduce you to my mother. She's really nice, and she owns a ranch that is situated in a forest on the outskirts of town."

"Sounds like a plan to me," replied the raven-haired beauty cheerfully. A moment later, Crystal asked "Ummm...what does your mother do, exactly?"

"She is a Pokemon Breeder," replied the auburn-haired boy simply.

"Oh. What exactly is a Pokemon Breeder?" wondered Crystal.

"Well, to put it simply, a Pokemon Breeder is someone that raises and mates carefully selected Pokemon that will reproduce offspring with specific improvements for future generations of Pokemon."

"That sounds exciting," said Crystal with a bright smile that seemed to light up her entire face, and make her cerulean blue eyes sparkle brightly underneath the morning sunshine.

With a barely visible tinge of pink painted across Tobias's cheeks, he quickly cleared his throat, and replied "Oh, it is. When I was younger, I would often help out my mother with raising some of the Pokemon that have already mated, and I will never forget the truly amazing experience that I feel, when I helped my mother bring a newborn Pokemon into the world."

"Wow," replied Crystal in a soft, but sweet, voice. "You must really have a strong bond with those hand-picked Pokemon back on your mother's ranch."

"I do. And I already share a strong and stable connection with my Vulpix as you know," retorted the auburn-haired youth.

"Yes, I know. Can I ask you a question?" asked the raven-haired girl.

"Go ahead," retorted Tobias.

"How long have you had your Vulpix for?"

"Well, to answer your question, Crystal, my Vulpix was given to me by my mother as a birthday present, when she was around six months of age. I've since then taken care of her, by obviously keeping her well fed and groomed every day, giving her plenty of excercise, and I even stayed by her bedside when she had fallen ill."

Crystal sighed to herself, then replied "You love Vulpix very much, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. She is my best friend, and I am hers," replied Tobias softly, as Vulpix nuzzled affectionately against her Trainer's cheek.

"Hey! What about me?" said the raven-haired beauty with a expression of mock hurting etched into her beautiful facial features.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. You're my best friend too, but Vulpix's well-being will always come first," answered the auburn-haired boy.

"I understand," replied Crystal with another bright smile on her face.

Before Tobias said anything else, the loud foghorn had alerted the passengers aboard the ship, that they have just pulled into the harbor...

* * *

Once the S.S. Anne departed from the harbor after a few people had gotten off, Crystal and Tobias had just entered "The City of Rainbow Dreams", and they now were free to do whatever they pleased for the entire day.

"So, Crystal. What do you want to do first?" asked Tobias gently.

"Hmmm...I don't know. What attractions are there to sightsee?" replied Crystal.

As the auburn-haired boy thought over that question for a moment, a place in particular came to mind.

"Oh, I know. Would you like to go to the local perfume shop?" asked Tobias.

"Sure. Sounds like fun," said Crystal happily...

* * *

As the two friends were walking through 'The City of Rainbow Dreams', tall and colorful skyscrpaers that made it seem as if though they were tiny ants, and they were going to close in on them, rose high into the clear blue sky; the glass of said structures reflecting the rays of the sun as it was shining brightly. Trees were swaying gently in the cool breeze, as people were taking their Pokemon for a daily morning walk.

After walking past a Pokemon Center, Tobias replied "Just south of here is the Celadon Game Corner, where people go to play the slot machines."

And on emphasis, adults of varying ages were entering into the brightly colored establishment to play a few of the different varieties of slot machines.

"Next door to the Game Center, is the Prize Center, where you can trade in the coins that you've won from the machines, to purchase rare Pokemon, such as Dratini or Eevee, and Technical Machines or TM's for short.

The two Trainers then saw someone happily walk out of the Prize Center with a newly purchased Eevee.

"To the west of here, is home to the Celadon Mansion, which is a five-star hotel that both weary tourists and travelers alike check into after they come into town," explained Tobias.

"And down just a little farther west, is home to the infamous Celadon Department Store, where you can stock up on items such as Pokeballs and Potions at a unbeatable price!"

A beautifully decorative fountain that housed small aquatic Pokemon, such as Magikarp and Goldeen, and had a large ring of sunshine yellow daisies surrounding it, rested outside of a very tall building that the words written in thin, black lettering 'Celadon Dept. Store' on the front window.

"Wow, there sure are a lot of attractions in this town," exclaimed Crystal cheerfully.

"Yes, there is. Oh, just south of the department store, is the Celadon Gym, where the Gym Leader, Master Erika uses various Grass-element Pokemon.

Tobias then pointed towards a large lime green building that had the words written in big, bold cotton candy pink letters "Celadon Gym" adorned atop the roof; various Grass-element Pokemon showing off the fully bloomed flowers that hung around either their head, back or neck.

"West of the Gym, situated between three houses, is the local perfume shop, a five-star restaurant, and the supermarket," finished Tobias.

Once Crystal was told of the local attractions of this town, she replied excitedly "Let's head over to the perfume shop first. I might want to buy some for later."

"Fine with me," said the auburn-haired boy...

* * *

Celadon City Southen District-Twenty minutes later...

Once in the southen district of the city around twenty minutes later, both Crystal and Tobias walked calmly into the local perfume shop. The interior of the establishment was gorgeous. Flowers of every variety were being neatly arranged into beautiful bouquets for later purchase by a customer for a loved one by a young woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties, and her large Grass Pokemon.

Two women that were also in their mid-twenties, and their Grass-element Pokemon, were working in the back of the store, hard at work combining the different scents of various Grass Pokemon to create new and sweet-smelling perfumes. The entire atmsphere was very soothing to both the two Trainers, and it calmly relaxed their senses.

Upon hearing the doorbell tinkling softly to alert them that a customer has just entered the shop, the woman that was wearing a sleeveless white tank top and matching pants with black work shoes, and was busy arranging flowers stopped what she was doing, turned around, and replied politely "Hello. Welcome to the Celadon City Perfume Shop. My name is Jasmine. How may I help you...today?"

Upon looking at whom exactly was standing in front of her at the moment, she exclaimed queitly "Tobias? Tobias, is that you?"

"Yes, Jasmine. It's me," replied the auburn-haired youth softly.

The woman that was known as Jasmine then expressed a warm and bright smile on her face, and her chocolate brown eyes sparkled brightly, as she replied "Well, don't just stand there. Come and give me a hug, sweetheart."

As Tobias walked up to Jasmine, and encircled his arms around her neck, she yelled loudly "Hey! Jade and Veronica! Come out to the front! Tobias and Vulpix have come back!"

Upon hearing the name of the auburn-haired boy, a pale-skinned girl with blonde hair that fell down to her middle back, and ocean blue eyes calmly walked out to the front of the shop, dressed in the same work attire as her manager, with a pastel pink apron tied tightly around her waist; a small, sky blue Pokemon that stood on all fours with small and pointed ears that were painted black on the inside, patches of cerulean blue dotting its body, deep crimson eyes, two, small snow white fangs resting comfortably along the corners of its mouth, and a rapidly blooming pink bulb surrounded by large, emerald green leaves on its back accompanying her.

The other woman, who was also pale-skinned, walked out calmly to the front of the shop behind her co-worker also dressed within the professional attire of the perfume shop. She had long raven black hair that was tied into a high ponytail, brilliantly sparkling jade-green eyes, and the pale yellow apron that she was wearing, was smudged with stains; a small green Pokemon that was riding on its Trainer's right shoulder, had rose red flowers sitting on either corner of its head, blushing pink dimples adorning its sweet and adorable face, and the lower portion of its body was covered in what looked like bright green and yellow leaves that resembled a skirt.

As Crystal took a good look at the chocolate brown haired woman that currently had encircled her lean arms around her friend's back, she noticed the large Grass-type standing loyally next to her. It stood on all fours, its body was painted a chartruese color, and its short tail stood out sharply. Its eyes were a bright golden yellow, and the top of its nose had two, long antennae sprouting from it. But the most noticeable feature of the Pokemon that Crystal noticed, was that its long neck had a large and fully bloomed cotton candy pink flower surrounding it; strands of sunshine yellow leading to the middle, and the tips of its flower were dotted a pure snow white.

The raven-haired girl then retrieved her Pokedex from out of her jacket pocket to gather information about these Pokemon.

* * *

_Meganium_

_The Herb Pokemon_

_Type:Grass_

_Height:5'11_

_Weight:221 lbs._

_The sweet fragrance that is given off by this Pokemon's flower automatically soothes and relaxes aggresive feelings. In battle, a Meganium will give off more of its becalming scent to blunt the foe's fighting spirit, and its breath has the ability to revive dead flowers and plants and make them healthy again._

_

* * *

_

Ivysaur

The Seed Pokemon

Type:Grass/Poison

Height:3'3

Weight:28 lbs.

_The large and leafy plant bulb on this Pokemon's back grows larger as it absorbs nutrients. To support its weight, a Ivysaur's legs and trunk thicken considerably, and if a sweet aroma wafts from the bulb on its back, and it begins to spend a lot of time under warm sunlight, it is the indication of the flower's upcoming bloom, and it is preparing for its final evolutionary stage._

* * *

_Bellossom_

_The Flower Pokemon_

_Type:Grass_

_Height:1'4_

_Weight:12 lbs._

_This Pokemon's bright red flower petals deepen when exposed to direct sunlight. When it dances, a Bellossom rubs its petals together to create a very pleasant and soothing ringing sound. When cloudy weather persists, and a group of this Pokemon gather, it performs a dance that is thought to be a ritual for the summoning of the sun_.

* * *

"Okay, Jasmine. You can let go of the poor child now. You're suffocating him," commented the woman known as Jade to the manager of the perfume shop.

"Oh. Sorry," apologised Jasmine, as she released her grip on Tobias, and let him get a chance to breathe.

"It's okay," replied Tobias.

"So, Tobias. What brings you back to Celadon so soon?" replied the woman known as Veronica cheerfully, as she came up to Vulpix, and scratched the Fire-type in between her sensitive ears.

"I guess that I was feeling a little homesick," said the auburn-haired boy shyly.

At this comment, the three woman all 'awwed', and Tobias blushed slightly.

"Hey, is Master Erika in today?" asked Tobias suddenly.

No, not today," retorted Jade. "But she should be at the Gym around this time."

When her warm chocolate brown eyes noticed the girl that was standing by a beautifully assorted bouquet of white roses, Jasmine replied "Hello. Can I help you today?"

As Crystal returned her cherry red Pokedex back into her jacket pocket, and looked into the warm chocolate brown eyes of the woman that had asked her a question, she replied "Ummm...I would like to sample some of your fine perufume, please."

"Certainly," replied the chocolate brown haired woman. "Follow me into the room in the back of the shop, and we'll choose a perfume that is suited perfectly for you."

"Okay," said the raven-haired beauty, and both she and Jasmine's Meganium followed behind her, as they all disappeared into the back room.

Afterwards, Veronica replied cheerfully "That girl is so adorable! Hey, Tobias. Do you, by any chance, know her?"

The auburn-haired youth then spoke "Yes, Veronica. I do. Her name is Crystal, and she and I are traveling arcross the entire Kanto region together."

"Oh, how exciting," replied the blonde-haired woman.

Then barely heard above a whisper, Jade asked quietly with a smirk on her face "So, Tobias. Are you and Crystal...you know? Dating?"

Hoping that he had misheard the older, raven-haired woman incorrectly, the auburn-haired youth squeaked hoarsely as he felt his heart suddenly beat at double its normal speed "What?! What gave you the idea that Crystal and I were dating?!"

"Because I am a girl. We can sense these kinds of things," replied Jade as she winked at Tobias. "And besides, I've noticed how you look at her when she isn't looking."

"Okay then. Since you think that you know so much, how do I look at her when she has her back turned?" replied Tobias irritably.

"Well, for one thing, your eyes hold a deep and longing look to them, and your face automatically heats up at the sudden metioning of her name," responded the raven-haired woman in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, I don't know what romance novel you gathered that information from, but I am displaying neither of the conditions in which you are describing to me," said Tobias with irritability still laced into his voice.

"Mmmm-hmmm," responded Jade, not at all convinced that Tobias was telling her the truth.

"Okay then, smart-aleck. If you and Crystal aren't dating, then what does she mean to you?" replied Veronica, attempting to get some information from out of the brunette.

"She and I are just good friends. That's it," replied Tobias simply.

The blonde then replied with a "Yeah right," also not convinced that Tobias was telling her the truth.

"You two are so impossible!" replied the auburn-haired boy in a low, yet, angry tone. "Well, you two can believe what you think is truth, but Crystal and I are just friends, and nothing more. Got it?"

As the older women were suprised by Tobias's small outburst, he then retorted "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to step outside. Tell Crystal that if she needs me, I'll be waiting outside for her."

And with that, the brunette walked angrily out of the perfume shop; the familiar sound of the doorbell tinkling to alert the employees that a customer was leaving. Just then, Crystal, Jasmine and returned to the front of the shop, where Crystal was holding a medium-sized lavender bottle with a blushing pink nozzle on the top tightly in her right hand; small illustrations on its back to describe what the fragile item contained-essence of Meganium, Venusaur and Vileplume.

At the sudden absence of her friend, the raven-haired beauty replied "Hey, has anyone seen where Tobias went?"

Veronica then relayed the message to Crystal, so, if she wanted to search for him, she would know where he was.

"Tobias stepped out for a while. He also said that once you are finished purchasing the perfume bottle that you hold in your hand at this moment, he will be waiting for you outside."

"Oh, okay. Thanks," replied Crystal politely.

"Okay," replied Jasmine from her position behind the cash register. "One bottle of 'Strawberry-Watermelon Passion' will cost P 2000."

As the raven-haired girl placed her backpack in front of the register, unzipped it, and pulled out a pouch that was filled with the prize winnings from previous battles, she untied the pudgy pouch, received two P 1000 bills, and handed them both to Jasmine, who then opened up the cash register, and put the bills inside.

After Crystal retied the pouch and returned it to inside her backpack, the warm chocolate brown eyed woman said "Thank you for your purchase. Would you like me to gift wrap your perfume bottle for you?"

"Yes, please," replied Crystal politely.

As Jasmine reached down behind the counter, and removed a small and thin cherry red box with matching lid from the second shelf, she placed the box and lid on the glass portion of the counter. She then looked behind her, and carefully pulled down some tissue paper from the wall, and placed a very thin layer of the material inside the box. She then used the remaining portion of tissue paper to gently wrap up the perfume bottle, and placed it delicately on top of the first layer. When Jasmine finished pressing the lid over the box to close it, she asked "What color and style of ribbon would you like?"

"Hmmmm," said Crystal, as she carefully looked over the different colors and styles of ribbons. Some were tied into a traditional bow. Some were long and wavy. And some were curled up into bouncy curls. Finally, the raven-haired beauty's dark cerulean blue eyes settled on a gorgeous snow white ribbon trimmed with bouncy curls.

"I would like the white ribbon trimmed with bouncy curls, please," replied Crystal.

"Excellent choice," said the chocolate brown haired woman, as she reached into one of the drawers, and removed the ribbon of Crystal's choice with care. When she untied the ribbon without disrupting the position of the curls, Crystal watched in amazement, as the ribbon was quickly tied underneath the bottom of the box, and around the top.

Jasmine's Meganium then helped out its Trainer, by holding its vine firmly in place where the lace intersected, just as Jasmine retied the ribbon into a bow.

"Okay. All finished. Would you like a plastic bag?" asked Jasmine.

"No, thank you," replied the raven-haired girl.

Once the warm chocolate brown eyed woman returned Crystal's now wrapped up perfume bottle to her, Crystal then unzipped her backpack again, to make room for her purchase. When the fragile item was placed inside, she rezipped her backpack, and placed it comfortably back onto her back, once she pushed her arms through the shoulder straps.

Jasmine then replied "Thank you for shopping at the Celadon City Perfume Shop. Have a good day and come back again soon."

As Crystal took one last glance at the two female employees, their manager, and their Pokemon, she replied happily "Thank you. I will, and you all have a good day too."

And without another word more, the raven-haired beauty pulled open the door that led to inside the building, and exited with the familiar sound of the doorbell tinkling in her ears...

* * *

Once back in the outside world, breathing in the now fresh and clean afternoon air, Tobias replied "Wow, you were in there for so long, I started to think that you had gotten lost."

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny," responded Crystal sarcastically.

Just then, a loud growling noise was heard, and Crystal began to blush a bright shade of red.

"I'm starting to get hungry," replied the raven-haired beauty.

"We can go to my mother's house for lunch. Crystal, I can honestly tell you right now, that once you have tasted my mother's awesome cheeseburgers, you will be instantly hooked!" said Tobias excitedly.

"Well, who can argue with that decision?" replied Crystal cheerfully...

* * *

When Tobias and his female companion were standing outside of a fairly secluded forest that rested on the outskirts of town around fifteen minutes later, the auburn-haired boy said "My mother's ranch is just beyond this forest."

Tobias then told Crystal to stay close to him, as he led her through the twists and turns of the thick and dense forest, before they ended up on a tall and grassy hill that overlooked the large and rectangular wooden fence that surrounded the perimenter of a huge pasture that was standing before them. Emerald green grass for as far as the eye could see, covered a good few miles of land. Large, four-legged hooved caramel colored Pokemon with a chocolate brown colored mane encircling their necks and a little over their upper body with sharp and shining silver horns, three silver studs placed in the middle of their foreheads, and three long whip-like tails were lazily grazing upon said green grass.

Another type of Pokemon was also grazing lazily upon the grass alongside said Pokemon on the wide and open pasture. It was a mostly caramel colored bipedal cow with soft cerulean eyes, a soft and cream colored underbelly with four udders sticking out in plain sight. Its long tail was tipped with a black ball, large and rough patches of black covered its back, and an entirely 'hood' of black surrounded its head, with two, small pearl white horns protruding from the top.

"You can never learn too much about Pokemon!" replied Crystal happily, as she once again removed her cherry red Pokedex from out of its comfortable resting place within her pants pocket, and scanned the two nearby Pokemon.

* * *

_Miltank_

_The Milk Cow Pokemon_

_Type:Normal_

_Height:3'11_

_Weight:166 lbs._

_Although more placid in nature compared to their male counterpart, Tauros, this Pokemon will spend more of its time eating and digesting grass and other plants. However, they also possess a stubborn streak and may be unwilling to comply if they don't receive the proper training required_. _Milk produced from a Miltank is packed with nutrition, making it the ultimate beverage for the sick or weary._

* * *

_Tauros_

__

_The Wild Bull Pokemon _

_Type:Normal_

_Height:4'7_

_Weight:194 lbs._

_Known for its rowdy and violent nature, this Pokemon will_ _not be satisfied unless it is rampaging at all times. If there is no opponent for a Tauros to battle, it will charge headfirst into thick trees and knock them down to calm itself. The protecter of a Tauros herd takes pride in its battle-scarred horns, and lesser and younger Tauros will lock horns to prove their strength. When it targets an enemy, a Tauros will charge furiously, while whipping its hefty body with its three, long tails._

* * *

"Come on. Let's head around to the back. If I know my mother, she should be outside doing the laundry right about now," said Tobias eagerly...

* * *

Around five minutes later, when the two Trainers reached the backside of the ranch, they saw a tall woman in the distance, hanging clothes of different colors on a clothesline, so that they could naturally dry out in the wind. The woman wore her long and flaming red hair in a ponytail that spiked out in different directions. Her eyes held a soft and icy lavender hue to them, and clothed around her slim frame, was a sunflower yellow tank top and sky blue jeans. She was also wearing white flip-flops, and she seemed to be humming a soothing melody.

A large Pokemon with the most beautiful cream colored pelt that Crystal had ever seen before in her life, was standing loyally next to its master. It was also worth noting, that the Pokemon had nine, long tails, each of which was tipped with orange. The Pokemon's eyes were that of a deep crimson color, and it also had a fluffy crest atop its head and a similar ruff around its neck.

Crystal then decided that it was yet another great opportunity to gather information about this new Pokemon. So, she again retrieved her Pokedex from within her pants paocket, and scanned it.

* * *

_Ninetales_

_The Fox Pokemon _

_Type:Fire_

_Height:3'7_

_Weight:43 lbs._

_Evolved from a Vulpix through the use of a Fire Stone, this Pokemon is highly intelligent and extremely vengeful. Thought to have come into existence when nine powerful sorcerers of a long ago forgotton age merged into one, the nine, long and very beautiful tails of a Ninetales contain a mysterious, yet, wondrous energy that allows it to remain alive for a thousand years! In battle, this Pokemon emits_ _a sinister light from its bright red eyes to gain total control over its foe's mind, and if any one its nine tails are pulled by either human of Pokemon alike, it will unleash a terrible thousand year curse upon the unfortunate victim._

* * *

Suddenly, as if on pure instinct, Vulpix jumped off of her master's shoulder, and ran towards the four-legged, cream colored Pokemon, all the while crying happily "Vul! Vul!" (Mama! Mama!)

As the cream coated Pokemon turned towards the source of the noise, it was suddenly overcome with happiness, as it too began to run towards the small blur of brown.

When Vulpix met the cream coated half-way in the middle of the field, she exclaimed excitedly "Vul!" (Oh, Mama! I've missed you so much!)

As the cream coated Pokemon nuzzled Vulpix's head affectionately, it replied with a soothing "Nine!" (I know, sweetheart. I've missed you a lot as well).

When the woman heard the familiar sound of a Vulpix in the distance, she turned her attention away from the laundry, and was now facing toward the grassy hill. When seeing that her son was standing on the top of said hill, he came running towards her openly waiting arms in happiness. After all, you know the saying "Like Trainer, Like Pokemon."

As the red-haired young woman closed her beautiful icy lavender eyes, and smiled down warmly upon the boy who was now snuggled in her embrace, she spoke softly "Oh, Tobias. You've come back home to me."

When the auburn-haired boy looked up into the soft and gaze of his mother, he responded with a quiet "I know, Mother. I've missed you so much."

Not wanting to interrupt the heartwarming moment, Crystal walked down onto the grassy field, and waited patienty by both Vulpix and her mother. After a few more moments of uninterrupted silence, Tobias's mother realized the raven haired girl's presence, and replied soothingly "Hello."

When Tobias released himself from his mother's warm embrace, she asked kindly "Tobias, who is this young woman?"

As both the two Fox Pokemon and Crystal walked over to the son and mother, she replied politely "Hello. My name is Crystal Ketchum. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The red-headed young woman responded with "Likewise. My name is Rika Nonaka. So, I see that you have become good friends with my son."

"Oh, yes. He has kept me a great deal of company while on my journey," replied Crystal kindly.

"That's good. I don't know if you know this, but before Tobias had left home, he was very shy, and didn't open up to anyone, except for the girls that work down at the perfume shop, Master Erika and myself."

"Mom!" replied Tobias with a light tinge of red painted across his cheeks.

"No, Mrs. Nonaka. I didn't know that at all," replied Crystal as she giggled softly to herself.

"Oh. But, I can clearly see, that after he has met you, he is staring to come out of his shell, and become a little more talkative. So, I just wanted to thank you for being such a great friend to my son," replied Rika with kindness."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Nonaka," replied Crystal sweetly, as she blushed a little bit.

Just then, the interrupting growling of a stomach alerted Rika that the two children standing in front of her were quite hungry. She replied with a warm smile on her face "Well, I know hungry children when I hear their stomachs rumbling. Now that I am finished with the laundry, why don't we head inside, and I'll fix up a couple of cheeseburgers for you two?"

"Okay!" happily replied the children, and when Rika slid open the glass double door that led to the inside of the house, she, her son and his friend, her Ninetales and its daughter entered, and when Crystal closed the sliding glass double doors behind them, Rika disappeared into the kitchen to get lunch prepared for the day...

* * *

As Tobias ate his cheeseburger with a content smle lighting up his facial features, Crystal got up from the wooden chair that she had been sitting in, and surveyed the setting of the family room. A large, mahogany polished wooden table that stood on four, long and sturdy legs with matching chairs stood in the middle of the room. A beautifully crafted glass chandelier draped over said dining table. Pastel yellow was splashed elegantly onto the spacious walls that seperated the family room from the living room and kitchen; windows that had been installed on said walls had the the blinds opened to bring some sunlight into the darkened room. Two large black as coal recliners were placed on a large rosy red carpet; the pieces of furniture facing towards the direction of a large television that was situated in the corner.

"This is a really beautiful home that you have here, Tobias," commented Crystal kindly, as she walked in her socks that she retrieved from out of her backpack, around the neatly polished wooden floor.

"Thank you," replied the auburn haired boy, as he was finishing eating his cheeseburger.

As Tobias was getting up from his chair, and pushing it inwards, Crystal noticed three pictures that were standing upright on a beautifully furnished mahogany drawer. One picture that was framed in blushing pink, showed a young woman dressed in a gorgeous snow white wedding gown being held around the waist by a handsome young man dressed in a coal black tuxedo; her icy lavender eyes sparkling brightly, as he was resting his head upon her shoulder, and the couple were smiling happily.

The next picture that was framed in a bright shade of light blue, showed the young man and woman again. Except for the fact, that the woman from the previous picture was now holding a warm and soft body wrapped up in a bundle of blue blankets delicately in her arms on a hospital bed; she and the new father continuing to smile brightly into the camera, as both her icy lavender eyes and his darker violet ones were sparkling happily.

The last picture that was framed in a brighter shade of yellow, showed a young woman dressed in a snow white sundress, holding a little boy who was clothed in a yellow t-shirt, blue shorts and shoes, and his auburn colored tresses were sticking out in different directions in her arms at a park; a willow tree and a sparkling lake seen in the scenery behind them. Crystal then noticed the difference in this picture. What had seperated it from the previous two, was that the man was nowhere to be seen, and both the mother and son were smiling sadly into the camera; as if they were going to break down and cry at any given moment.

"Hey, Tobias. Can you tell me what these pictures mean?" asked Crystal softly.

As the aurburn haired boy joined his friend in looking at the pictures, he replied "Well, the first picture was taken on my parent's wedding day. The second picture shows me when I was born, and my mother was holding me in her arms, as both she and my father were smiling into the camera. And the last picture was taken when I was five years old, and my mother took me out to the park. As you can see, my father wasn't in this picture."

"Why? What happened to him?" asked the raven haired girl, hoping that she wasn't asking something that was too personal.

"At the time that this picture was taken, my father had divorced my mother. And just like that, he walked out of our lives as if it meant absolutely nothing to him; not realizing that he left my mother crying herself to sleep at night sometimes, and my heart shattered into a million pieces."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," apologised Crystal sadly.

"Don't be," responded Tobias with bitterness laced into his voice, and his violet purple eyes hardened angrily at the picture.

"Hey, now that lunch is finished, why don't we take our plates into the kitchen, and then we can go outside and play with the Pokemon. It'll make you feel better, and it will also take your mind off of this picture," responded the raven haired girl, trying to lift up her friend's spirits.

"Okay," was the timid reply of the auburn haired boy...

* * *

After the stainless porcelain china plates had been washed, dried and properly stored away, the two Pokemon Trainers were outside, calmly relaxing on the grassy hill that overlooked the backside of the ranch, watching their Pokemon getting their daily exercise by engaging in a friendly game of 'Tag'.

"It's really peaceful up here, isn't it, Tobias?" lazily commented Crystal.

"Yeah, it is," agreed the auburn haired boy.

"It just gives you room to think, ya know?" again lazily commented the raven haired girl.

"Yeah, I know. Vulpix and I would always come out to this hill to think when we needed to get away from the house for a little while," said Tobias.

As Crystal looked up into the sky above her, a few soft and fluffy white clouds were passing overhead slowly, the heat of the white-hot sun beat down on her creamy skin gently, and she felt she could stay completely content with staying in that same spot for the rest of the day.

As Crystal continued to daydream to herself, Tobias gently interrupted her by saying "Oh, Crystal. I just now remembered that I promised my mother that I would go to the market in a little while, and pick up some ingredients for tonight's dinner. So, I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me? Because if you don't, I'll understand, and I'll go by myself."

"No, I don't mind going to the market with you. What are we having for dinner tonight?" asked the raven haired girl.

"Vegatable Stew," responded Tobias simply.

"Sounds good. What ingredients do we need for the stew?"

"A stalk of Celery, one-half pound of baby carrots, a pound of potatoes, a pound of ground beef, chicken broth, salt and freshly ground pepper."

"Okay. When did you want to leave?" asked Crystal.

"Right now. I mean, we could wait a little longer if that is alright with you," replied Tobias gently.

"Yes, it's okay with me," said the raven haired girl. "Besides, I need to get out of the sun anyway."

"Great," responded the auburn haired boy, as he smiled down upon his Vulpix, who was still happily playing 'Tag" under the sun with all of her friends.

"Well, we had better get down to the market before it closes," said Crystal.

"Right," replied Tobias, before he followed his female companion down the hill that overlooked his home, and back into town to purchase the ingredients needed for the evening's meal...

* * *

Celadon City Supermarket-Thirty minutes later...

Once again in the southern district of Celadon City again around half-an-hour later, both Crystal and Tobias entered the supermarket. Upon entering and retrieving a basket for either of them to gather the ingredients, the two Trainers noticed the cashier that was standing at his post in front of the cash register, looking positively bored and just about ready to drift off to sleep at any moment. It was also a Saturday afternoon, which meant that wasn't going to be as much business today, as there was if was a weekday.

"It'll be much faster if we split up to get the items on the list. So, Crystal. You can get the stalk of celery, half pound of carrots, salt and pepper. And I'll get the pound of potatoes, ground beef and chicken broth. Deal?" summarized Tobias.

"Deal. And we'll meet in of the meat department once we're finished?" asked Crystal.

"Okay."

And with that, the two friends split up to gather the ingredients that they've assigned themselves to get...

* * *

When Crystal made it over to the Fruits/Vegatables aisle of the market with no difficulty at all, she found a half pound of recently and throughly cleansed baby carrots lying next to a large stalk of celery.

"That was easy," she said eagerly.

As the raven haired girl gathered the half pound of baby carrots and stalk of celery once it was properly wrapped up in a plastic bag into the basket, she had walked down about three aisles to reach the seasonings. When Crystal saw both a bottle of salt and freshly ground pepper within her view, she again gathered the seasonings into the basket.

"Well, now that is all done and over with, it's time to meet Tobias in front of the meat department," replied the raven haired girl, as she quickly spun around on her heels, and backtracked her steps towards the meat department...

* * *

Just as Tobias was finishing putting the pound of ground beef into his shopping basket along with the pound of potatoes and large can of chicken broth, he noticed someone that looked familiar that was standing a good few feet down the aisle from him. When the coal black hair confirmed his suspicions, he shouted happily out to the figure "Master Erika! Master Erika!"

When the figure's ears pricked up sharply at the tone of her name being called out loudly, she turned towards of the source of the voice, and noticed that it was her former student's son calling out to her, as he came jogging her way.

"Oh, Tobias. What a suprise it is to run into you. And in the supermarket of all places," replied the woman known as Erika.

Erika was a very beautiful young woman, whose aura spoke in a calm, gentle and serenre tone. Her shortly cut coal black hair, which framed her round face quite nicely, stopped to below her chin, and covered both of her ears. A headband that was as red as a freshly picked apple was nestled snugly within said color hair, and she was wearing a elegantly flowing lavender sundress with matching flip-flops. Her eyes, which were the color of a stone that you would find on a beach, or the clouds on a stormy day sparkled brightly at the sight of the boy that was standing in front of her.

"It sure is," responded the auburn haired boy sheepishly.

"So, how have you been since you left Celadon?" asked Erika kindly.

"Pretty good. Oh, do you want to see the badges that I've earned from the past three Gym Leaders?" asked Tobias in a estatic tone.

"Sure," said Erika sweetly.

As Tobias opened up a bright pumpkin orange carrying case that he had been storing in one the deeper compartments of his jacket, the plush and black interior clearly showed the Boulder, Cascade and Thunder Badges as proof that he previously defeated the Gym Leaders of those towns.

"Impressive," said the leader of the Celadon Gym simply.

"Thanks," replied Tobias, as he returned the carrying case to the deeper compartments of his jacket.

Suddenly, a girl that the auburn haired boy hadn't noticed until just now, shyly walked out from behind her mother. The girl was around his age, and she was wearing cocoa brown sandals with a sky blue denim skirt and a coal black tank top. Her long coal black hair was tied up into a high ponytail by a cherry red scrunchie. Her storm grey eyes, which was of a much lighter shade then her mother's, sparkled brightly at the boy that was standing in front of her mother at the moment, and her pale cheeks were tinged with a barely noticeable shade of pink.

"Ah, yes, Tobias. You remember my daughter, Rose, don't you?" asked Erika, as she motioned towards the shy girl standing next to her.

"Yes, I remember her, Master Erika," said Tobias calmly.

When the auburn haired boy said "Hello," to the pale skinned girl, she just blushed even harder, and shied away from him.

"Oh, Master Erika. Now that I've caught up with you, I was wondering if I could challenge you to a Gym Battle tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. in the Gym?" said Tobias eagerly.

"Certainly, Tobias. I will gladly accept your challenge," replied the leader of the Celadon Gym.

"Great," responded the auburn haired boy happily.

Just as Rose managed to gather enough courage to say "I'll be rooting for you, Tobias," the slim frame of Crystal came into view, saying "Tobias, I'm finished with my half of the shopping list."

As the storm grey eyed girl fixed her gaze upon the girl who was standing next to her crush, she glared icily at Crystal.

"Oh, and who do we have here?" asked Erika kindly, as she looked in Crystal's general direction.

"Master Erika, this is Crystal, my travelling partner through the Kanto region. Crystal, this is Master Erika, the leader of the Celadon Gym that I was telling you about earlier," said Tobias, as he introduced the two women.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Crystal," replied the user of Grass Pokemon politely, as she shook the raven haired girl's hand in a gentle handshake.

"Likewise," responded Crystal politely.

After Erika had let go of Crystal's hand, she couldn't help but get the feeling that she was being watched closely. When she looked in the direction of the girl that was standing a couple of feet across from her, she found the source of her uneasiness, as the storm grey eyed girl's icy glare was fixed upon, and only, her.

"Well, Tobias. Rose and I have to get going. It was nice talking with you again. I'll see you in the Gym tomorrow afternoon, and also tell your mother that I said hello," said the user of Grass Pokemon sweetly.

"I'll make sure to do so, Master," replied Tobias as he bowed his head in respect to her.

"And Crystal, it was once again a pleasure to have met you," said Erika.

"Likewise," replied Crystal again, before Erika gently took hold of her daughter's soft and small hand, and led her past the two Trainers into a different aisle of the store; the storm grey eyed girl never once taking her icy glare off of the raven haired girl before she had disappeared around the corner.

Now feeling unsettled by the icy cold glare that she not even a moment ago received from the daughter of the Gym Leader of this town, Crystal didn't hear Tobias say "Well, now that we've obtained all of the items on the list, let's hurry and pay for them, then get back to my house before the sun sets."

As Crystal still wasn't listening to a single word that Tobias has said, he waved his hand in front of her face to try and bring her back to reality.

"Hello, Crystal. Earth to Crystal. Is anyone home?" replied the auburn haired boy, as he kept waving his hand in front of his friend's face.

Now coming back to reality after a long while of uncomfortable silence, Crystal replied in a hollow tone "Hmmm...Were you just saying something, Tobias?"

The auburn haired boy then answered in a annoyed tone "Well, finally I was able to get through to you. Is everything okay, Crystal? You seemed to have had a distant look in your eyes, and you haven't answered to anything that I've said for the past five minutes."

Not wanting to worry her friend, Crystal lied "Yes, Tobias. Everything's fine. Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's pay for these items, and get back to your house," as she walked towards the direction of the cash register.

"Okay," replied Tobias quietly, not even wanting to find out the reason why his friend went from being distant one moment, to self-assuring the next...

* * *

After the groceries had been paid for in full, Crystal and Tobias made it back to the ranch safely, and upon entering through the sliding glass doors that served as the back entrance into the kitchen, the children placed the bagged groceries upon the stainless white marble countertop. As Rika thanked both her son and his friend for taking time out of their schedule to go grocery shopping for her, they both said in unison "You're welcome."

"Oh, Mother," remembered Tobias suddenly. "Guess who Crystal and I ran into today while we were shopping."

"Who?" asked the red-headed woman warmly.

"Master Erika!" replied the auburn haired youth excitedly.

"Oh, did you, really?" said Rika in a suprised tone.

"Yes. And she told me to tell you that she said hello," repeated Tobias as he relayed the message to his mother.

"Thank you telling me, Tobias. And could you tell Master Erika that I said hello to her as well?" requested Rika simply.

"Yeah, I'll remember to tell her tomorrow when I head over to the Gym," said Tobias gently.

As the icy lavender eyed woman nodded her head in a 'thank you' motion, Crystal, for the first time in a while, finally spoke up. "Ummm...Mrs. Nonaka? Do you need any help with preparing dinner?"

"Now that you mention it, Crystal. Yes, I would like some help. But, I need for you to wash your hands first. Then afterwards, you can start washing the stalk of celery, place it on a dry paper towel, and after you've finished with that, wash the baby carrots and place them into a large blue bowl that you will find in the second door behind you."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Nonaka," replied Crystal sweetly.

"And Tobias. I needn't tell you that you already need to wash your hands. So, after you're done with that, can you get the large orange bowl down from the upper first cabinet, and begin to peel the potatoes?" asked the icy lavender eyed woman.

"Yes, Mother," replied Tobias.

"Great. Then, I guess that I will pre-heat the stove, so that I can heat up both the chicken broth and the diced ground beef meatballs," said Rika as they all got to work on their assigned tasks...

* * *

When the Pokemon had come inside to the warmth of the kitchen after they played a few games of 'Tag', then afterwards rested under the shade of an oak tree that stood over to the right side of the house, Rika fed each and every one of them, according to their type and what flavors they preferred in their food.

As the icy lavender eyed woman gripped the handles of a still warm pot of vegetable stew from off of the stove, being careful as to not spill a single drop of it, and the silver laddle that was swirling around harmlessly in the seasoned broth, she carefully carried the stew into the family room area, and set it upon the middle of the carved mahogany dining table.

When Rika removed the mittens from off of her delicate hands, she took the laddle that was filled with stew from out of the pot, and served her son first. She then served Crystal next and herself last. The mother, son and their houseguest then began to eat the flavored broth in quiet tranquilty.

Afterwards, they all sat down to watching a couple of hours of watching television, while enjoying deliciously homemade brownies. Then, after noticing how the sun had just gone down, and early evening had settled in; the sky going from being painted light shades of gold, pink and red to darker shades of blue and purple, Rika told both her son and his friend that it was getting close to bedtime. So, with a yawn and a goodnight kiss to his mother from Tobias, and a "Good night, Mrs. Nonaka," from Crystal, the two Pokemon Trainers hurried off to bed...

* * *

With Crystal now fast asleep in her own guest bedroom in the two-story home, Tobias was still lying awake in his own bedroom, thinking over the strategy that he would use to win in the upcoming battle that he would partake in tomorrow afternoon; Vulpix curled up comfortably into a ball on the soft and feathery pillow next to him sleeping soundly.

"I think that I am going to leave Geodude at home, because it is vulnerable to Grass-type moves. So, I will use Bellsprout first, Tauros second, if Mom will let me use it, and save Vulpix as a last resort. And Crystal will be there to cheer me on."

Speaking of the raven-haired beauty, the words of the girls that worked in the local perfume shop came rushing back into his mind.

"So what if I stare at Crystal when her back is turned for a few seconds longer then what is normally required to look at a person? I mean, who wouldn't? She is beautiful after all," replied the auburn haired boy as his cheeks were tinged with a light shade of red underneath the moonlight that was streaming in through the closed window in his bedroom.

Then, in a more serious tone, he said "But, despite all of that, I already made a promise to myself that I would work on our friendship first, before I tell her about my feelings for her at possibly the end of this journey."

As quickly as it had come, the reddening blush that spread across the auburn haired boy's face had disappeared, and as he shut out the image of his friend out of his mind, he shifted over onto his side, pulled the warm snow white blankets up closer over his body, and started to think about how to better his strategy when he would face off against his master in a scheduled Pokemon Battle tomorrow.

* * *

**Well, finally I'm finished. Holy crap! I just now realized that the length of this chapter is just as long as one of my previous chapters! If not more! Hmmm...for some strange reason, I had trouble writing this chapter, but at least I was able to finish it. So, you people know the drill. Read and review as always. So, until next time. I'm outie. Peace out, yo.**


	11. Author's Note: Update

**Well, everyone. I have some unfortunate news. Due to having permanent writer's block and not being able to update in over a year along with working at a new job, I have officially decided to discontinue Crystal Ketchum: A New Generation Begins for two reasons.**

**One of the reasons being that I have just simply run out of inspiration to continue writing past Chapter 10 and the other reason is that another story that I have been writing for a different fandom for quite some time now has recently re-ignited my interest in finishing it.**

**So, to anyone who has added this story to their "Story Alerts" eagerly awaiting for an update, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there is not going to be a Chapter 11. But, you know? It was fun while it lasted. So, again. I apologize, and I hope that you enjoyed it while it was still good.**

**~The Mistress of Shadow Dragons~**


End file.
